Handel - Ottone

The Guardian 80

Cencic/Snouffer/Hallenberg/Kudinov/Sabata/Starushkevich/Il Pomo d’Oro/Petrou
(Decca)

Once again, Max Emanuel Cencic lends his ripe countertenor to the title role of a relatively neglected Handel opera and leads a performance to relish. And, once again, mezzo Ann Hallenberg all but upstages everyone around her. Ottone is the opera over which Handel fell out with his new diva, Francesca Cuzzoni; she refused to see the understated genius of her character Teofane’s first aria until Handel picked her up and threatened to throw her out of the window.

Soprano Lauren Snouffer makes a lovely job of that aria here, singing with bright, liquid tone, the accompaniment pared back to the barest suggestion of harmonies. George Petrou’s orchestra offers eloquent and elegant support throughout. There are several memorable arias – and, as a closing bonus, we get three extras that Handel added for a later run – but the highlight is Gismonda’s Vieni, o Figlio, mesmerisingly sung by Hallenberg.