Reputedly Carestini tossed off the pyrotechnic roulades and leaps in “Dopo notte” with the insouciance of a jaunty jingle.īenedikt Kobel sang the bearer of bad news Odoardo sympathetically enough but was generally undistinguished. When Handel wrote “Ariodante” in 1735 he had the finest singers of the age at his disposal including the pulchritudinous Anna Maria Strada as Ginevra, acclaimed soprano Cecilia Young as Dalinda and the Farinelli-esque castrato Giovanni Carestini for the title role. Even more memorable was the ballet of Good and Bad Dreams as Ginevra watched a mannequin double of herself shamed and violated by malevolent accusers. Colm Seery’s choreography was consistently diverting, inventive and whimsical. The simulated drunkenness of the courtiers during the concluding Gavotte/Rondeau/Bourrée was particularly amusing. Handel had not incorporated ballet into his operas before “Ariodante” and Christie restored almost all the dance music which was written for the Pavlova of the period, Marie Sallé.

The only quirky accessory was the diadem worn by the King of Scotland which was so enormous it made the Imperial State Crown look like an inconsequential bauble. The Hibernian milieu was craftily represented by some Gray plaid tartans, the odd highland fling and an enormous dead deer which was later roasted on a spit to celebrate the happy ending. Plumed hats and thigh-hugging britches prevailed and the whole mise-en-scène looked like a Hogarthian tableau vivant. Vicki Mortimer’s stage designs provided a stylish background for her opulent 18 th century silk, satin, and velvet brocade costumes. The “royal gardens” similarly suffered from terminal pruning, but the massive bookcases in the gallery of the palace were splendid indeed, albeit closer to Stuart sumptuousness than Antonio Salvi’s assimilation of “Orlando Furioso.” The Great Hall in the final scene became a boozy beachfront barbeque. McVicar took certain pardonable liberties with several specific locations, and the “delightful valley” was populated by preening courtiers instead of picnic-ing peasants. Appropriately for the Staatsoper production, five nationalities were represented in the seven principal roles, with American-born William Christie on the podium for good measure.Ĭelebrated Scots director Sir David McVicar is no stranger to the Haus am Ring, but his previous productions of “Falstaff”, “Tristan und Isolde” and “Adriana Lecouvreur” were obviously not part of the baroque canon for which he is particularly acclaimed. Typically, McVicar’s stage pictures were gorgeous to look at with a huge sea and sky scrim behind simple but effective high stone walls which shifted to form various scenes. Written in Italian by a native German, first performed in London and set in Scotland, this was 18 th century musical ecumenicalism at its zenith. Given the rapturous reception accorded to “Ariodante” and almost simultaneously, the oratorio “Saul” at the Theater an der Wien, Handel could well become as ubiquitous in Stadt Habsburg as Sacher torte.Īfter more than 200 years in the operatic wilderness, “Ariodante” recently leapt out of oblivion to become the Handel opera du jour with new productions in Glasgow, Amsterdam, Stuttgart, and Salzburg, and outstanding concert performances by Alice Coote and Henry Bicket with the English Consort at the Barbican, the Theater an der Wien, and Hamburg’s capacious Elbphilharmonie. Considering the German-born, anglicized baroque master wrote more than 40 operas, the five in the Staatsoper’s current repertoire certainly leave room for many more discoveries. The common factor in almost all these guest appearances is the music of Georg Friedrich Händel. The latest member of this exclusive club is another consummate baroque ensemble, Les Arts Florissants. An alien orchestra playing in the illustrious Wiener Staatsoper is about as rare as a running of the bulls on the Ringstrasse.Īpart from a one-night swap with the La Scala orchestra in 2011, in recent years only Les Musiciens du Louvre, Les Talens Lyriques, and the Freiburger Barockorchester have been granted such a privilege.

Vienna opera house tour review