C. Hogwood, Handel’s Opera, Live on 3 Wednesday

[doversoul1]

Here is the full title:
Christopher Hogwood conducts the Academy of Ancient Music in Handel's opera Imeneo on Live on 3 on Wednesday 29 May live from the Barbican Hall.

Rebecca Bottone (Rosmene)
Lucy Crowe (Clomiri)
Renata Pokupic (Tirinto)
Vittorio Prato (Imeneo)
Stephan Loges (Argenio)
Choir of the AAM
Academy of Ancient Music
Christopher Hogwood (conductor)

Here is the information on the Barbican Hall, and it has a bonus: the link to Catherine Bott interviewing Christopher Hogwood about this opera. Incidentally, this is a concert performance.

http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=13073

http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?id=13073&pg=4099

The barbican page tells us that:
We regret to announce that David Daniels has withdrawn from this concert. He has asked us to pass on his sincere apologies. We are delighted that Croatian mezzo-soprano Renata Pokupić will take his place

This is rather interesting. As it happens, CB asks C. Hogwood about countertenor and Handel’s operas toward the end of the interview. Mr Hogwood has no hesitation in saying that Handel never considered countertenor voice for his operas; it belonged to church. I was more than half expected to hear Chris Hogwood say something like ‘but today’s countertenors are very different from those in Handel’s time etc.’ Instead, he went on to say ‘we have many great ladies who can sing the roles’, as if to say why bother with countertenor. I wonder if this has anything to do with David Daniels withdrawing from the performance. He isn’t ‘indisposed’.

Whatever the inside story may be, this will be good.

[amateur51]

The barbican page tells us that:
We regret to announce that David Daniels has withdrawn from this concert. He has asked us to pass on his sincere apologies. We are delighted that Croatian mezzo-soprano Renata Pokupić will take his place

This is rather interesting. As it happens, CB asks C. Hogwood about countertenor and Handel’s operas toward the end of the interview. Mr Hogwood has no hesitation in saying that Handel never considered countertenor voice for his operas; it belonged to church. I was more than half expected to hear Chris Hogwood say something like ‘but today’s countertenors are very different from those in Handel’s time etc.’ Instead, he went on to say ‘we have many great ladies who can sing the roles’, as if to say why bother with countertenor. I wonder if this has anything to do with David Daniels withdrawing. He isn’t ‘indisposed’.

Whatever the inside story may be, this will be good.

Very interesting, your detective work on Mr Daniels' withdrawal, dovers, I would not have spotted it

[Pegleg]

So did Mr. Daniels flounce off stage? Artistic differences and all that. Personally, I won't miss him as his not my favourite countertenor. Renata Pokupic has a fine voice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIpitB2Xz1s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENMjbOQGluM

In the meantime I've been listening to this in anticipation of tomorrow night's performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOKe-oBxc5E

I'm not familair with Imeneo, is there an Englsih version libretto anywhere online?

[Catherine Bott]

Hello- I'm looking forward to this too, and shall be there: not invited to present for Radio 3, but engaged some time ago by the Barbican to present the pre-concert event in conversation with Christopher Hogwood. For what it's worth, when we recorded an interview for the podcast back in March, David Daniels was still very much in the picture: there was no agenda to our conversation, and I don't know why he has withdrawn. I devise and produce these podcasts myself, and as a female singer was delighted with Christopher's thoughts on the casting of trouser roles, which is why I included them.

Renata Pokupic is terrific, as is the rest of the cast, so it should be a very satisfying evening whether you're listening in the hall or at home.

I did 5 podcasts for the Barbican last season, interviewing Christophe Rousset, William Christie, Paul Agnew and David Daniels too: I believe they are still available via i-tunes or the Barbican website. More next season, I hope.

[Pegleg]

I did 5 podcasts for the Barbican last season, interviewing Christophe Rousset, William Christie, Paul Agnew and David Daniels too: I believe they are still available via i-tunes or the Barbican website. More next season, I hope.

I certainly try to listen to those. Talking of podcasts etc. all of this year's Gresham Lectures given by Christopher Hogwood are well worth viewing:

http://www.gresham.ac.uk/professors-and-speakers/professor-christopher-hogwood-cbe

[Catherine Bott]

Must give them a go - I'm sure they're excellent. He's the real scholarly deal....

[doversoul1]

Hello Catherine
I hope my post did not suggest anything to suspect/accuse/blame etc. your interview. It was meant to be er… a bit of a gossip

And here is the list of the Barbican podcast. Yes, your interviews are all here (I think)

http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/podcasts

[David-G]

This sounds very good indeed. I would have tried for a ticket (perhaps a return), but I shall be at Glyndebourne that evening (Falstaff). I shall definitely catch it on the iplayer.

[Catherine Bott]

[doversoul1]

Tonight 7.30!!

Imeneo was actually staged back in March as part of London Handel Festival.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/mar/12/imeneo-review

http://www.opera-britannia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=885:imeneo-london-handel-festival-13th-march-2013&catid=8:opera-reviews&Itemid=16

Did anyone see it?

[Pegleg]

By the time of the interval came I was feeling decidedly like denaissance man. Neither a gentlemen with means to do the grand tour and become fluent in Italian, nor with a solid grounding in the Classics and the philosophy of the ancients. Oh for an English language libretto. Would the Barbican audience have had one? There wasn't even a decent synopsis on the relevant BBC 3 web page. Thankfully, the AAM and Barbican do not let us down:

http://www.barbican.org.uk/media/upload/music/0Handel%20Imeneo%20for%20web.pdf

http://www.aam.co.uk/media/files/resources/features/Handel-Imeneo.pdf

If the acerbic Jennings could only mange to say only half the songs were good, I wonder which half he was referring to as not good. In the 2nd aria of act1 I imagined I was hearing things. Wasn't that “Oh Lord, who's mercies numberless” ? Once I realised Handel was writing Saul at the same time as Imeneo, it made sense. I suppose the are no obvious Handelian hits here, but it's not to be dismissed, and act 3 had two fine arias from Lucy Crowe and Renata Pokupic.

It's strange that the troubles Handel had in staging this work in the 1700s, should in a small way be repeated nearly 300 years on. I read that last week's Paris performance was cancelled. I assume this related to Mr. Daniels withdraw. I enjoyed the opportunity to hear one of Handel's lesser know works that stands on the divide between his operas and oratorio. At the end the applause was long and well deserved.

[doversoul1]

By the time of the interval came I was feeling decidedly like denaissance man. Neither a gentlemen with means to do the grand tour and become fluent in Italian, nor with a solid grounding in the Classics and the philosophy of the ancients. Oh for an English language libretto.

That’s me, too (and thank you for the AAM link), but thanks to Catherine Bott’s interview in the Barbican page with the (although scant) synopsis provided by the wiki, I very much enjoyed the performance. The AAM was terrific.

Having seen a number of staged Handel’s operas, come to that many other Baroque operas, on youtube, I have almost come to the conclusion that I prefer concert performance of these operas to most of the ‘realised’ versions. I imagine seeing the actual stage live is a different matter all together but that’s another issue (to me).

[Sir Velo]

For those who may not have caught up with it, The Gramophone produced a fascinating 70th birthday tribute podcast on CH's career. Among the contributors, our very own Catherine Bott, with some fascinating insights!

[Pegleg]

Thanks for pointing that out. Just find 55mins of your time to listen to it:

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/happy-birthday-christopher-hogwood

[MickyD]

It was great to hear Hogwood back at the helm of the AAM - reminded me of all those wonderful vintage L'Oiseau Lyre recordings he did. I've almost given up hope of his Haydn symphony cycle ever being completed.