This release presents about 78 of the original 231 minutes contained on the 4-CD set that appeared on the Capriccio label in 1988. The original set’s release was a real ear-opener–certainly the first recorded complete opera by Hasse (1699-1783, roughly contemporary with Bach and Handel) and possibly, outside of Mozart’s and Handel’s, the first opera seria to receive a complete recording. (It is based on Metastasio, has the same characters as Handel’s Poro, and concerns Alexander the Great.) I thought at the time that while Hasse might not be the equal of either Mozart or Handel, it was easy to understand why he was in fact the most popular opera composer of his time in Italy, Germany, and Austria: his melodies, whether lachrymose, triumphant, or of the simile variety (“My emotions are as a storm-tossed ship”), are catchy and entertaining, and if performed with the virtuosity with which they were composed, capture the ear and imagination.
I listened over and over again to the original CDs, fascinated by the six high voices, four of which are men’s and all of which are capable of executing long, complicated coloratura as well as handsome melodies. Nowadays, those singers seem a dime a dozen, but they were rare then–and they’re still a joy to listen to.
Emma Kirkby sings the title role (composed for Hasse’s wife, Faustina Bordoni, who was one of Handel’s star singers in London), and it is possible that a more dramatic sound was wished for–but most of her music is of the tragic, “why me?” variety (she is innocent of the infidelity of which her husband, Poro, suspects her) and she sings it with beautiful tone and great introspection. Male alto Dominique Visse sings Alessandro, and here he dazzles with his seven-minute aria in which he compares himself to a wounded stag, accompanied by wonderfully played hunting horns. Poro is alto Derek Lee Ragin, with a more ferocious sound, who almost hectors his poor wife to distraction, often with long-breathed runs. Male soprano Randall Wong sounds exactly like a woman–and a very gifted one–as Gandarte, Poro’s friend; David Cordier’s grainy alto is good for the general, Timagenes; and Agnes Mellon as Poro’s sister Erissena is wonderfully feminine. William Christie and the Capella Coloniensis are superb.
I wish this had been a 2-CD set of extracts; out of the 30-plus arias in the original, we only get nine, plus the overture, a march, duet, and final chorus. Still, if you don’t own or want (or can’t find) the original four-CD set, this is a delightful chunk of music, stunningly performed. [2/9/2009]
