I fear I agree. It just seemed way OTT, and I've heard Ms Coote in far, far better repertoire and form than this.
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I had a different reaction to this concert and thought it was in general very impressive both by Alice Coote and the English Concert in a very ambitious late-night programme. It's rare that any mezzo-soprano attempts a complete programme of Handel arias not least because of the technical and interpretative challenges. In a complete opera or oratorio over 3 hours or so a singer may only have 3 or 4 major arias, yet here Alice Coote sang nine including some of the most challenging that Handel wrote with hardly any interruption except for the orchestral ballet pieces from Alcina. I did not think her singing was unduly drawn-out with the possible exception of "He was despised" though this is in any case a very long aria, and nor did I think her style clashed with the performance style of the English Concert who provided powerful and full-bodied accompaniment. The most successful arias I thought were "Sta nell'Ircana", "Scherza Infida" and "Se pieta di me non senti", with eloquent horn-playing in the first and bassoon-playing in the latter two. On the negative side "Myself I shall adore" from Semele did not seem to fit well into this programme and I wasn't so keen on the ornamentation in some of the da capo sections - I agree with the reservations about the da capo in "Dopo Notte".
Was this a good advert for Handel's music and Alice Coote's singing? Yes and yes, imv. She and the EC gave powerful performances of intensely dramatic music, including some of the greatest arias that Handel - or anyone - wrote. And if there is "far better repertoire" than this, I'd like to know of it, since it is music written by a composer at the height of his powers, someone described by Haydn as "the master of us all" and revered by Beethoven above all others.Comment
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