Blandine Staskiewicz / Les Accents / Thibault Noally ORATORIO

Since its foundation in 2014, Thibault Noally’s ensemble Les Accents brings to life rare works from the Italian Baroque era: in particular the vocal repertoire of the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Their new record features unpublished extracts of oratorios. Born at the same time and made of the same theatrical stuff as his opera brother, the oratorio, a lyric and dramatic work without staging, also moves the crowds! And its heroines Athalie and Judith have the same temper as their operatic counterparts.The virtuoso arias of Caldara, Scarlatti (father) or Porpora performed by the mezzo-soprano Blandine Staskiewicz, full of baroque ornaments and jubilant flights, also testify to the instrumental ardor of the genre: the dramatic effects of the orchestra, the alternation of allegros and adagios, and the various of playing modes marry the movements of the passions of these characters with great intensity.

Roberta Invernizzi / Blandine Staskiewicz / Lisandro Abadie / La Risonanza / Fabio Bonizzoni HANDEL Aci, Galatea e Polifemo

Fabio Bonizzoni returns with his long-awaited new recording of Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo which serves both as a pendant for his award-winning series of Handel Cantatas for Glossa and as a further exploration from him into the serenata form (which has already brought forward gems from Vivaldi and Alessandro Scarlatti). 

Who better to team up once again with Bonizzoni – and performing the role of the luckless shepherd Aci – than that scintillating soprano Roberta Invernizzi, whose captivating contributions to the Handel series from La Risonanza as well as her just-released Neapolitan Baroque music travels with Antonio Florio in I Viaggi di Faustina have been drawing powerful critical plaudits and inciting listener joy in equal measure. Joining Roberta Invernizzi for the dramatic energy called upon in Handel’s virtuosic and ebullient score, written for a 1708 wedding whilst he was in Naples (Carlo Vitali sets the scene in his enjoyably discursive booklet essay) are the Argentinean bass Lisandro Abadie – summoned to demonstrate an awe- inspiring range that well becomes the monstrous nature of Polifemo – and French mezzo Blandine Staskiewicz, admirably suited to portray Galatea’s plaintive charms. 

Not least among the attractions of this new Glossa release are the demands placed by the young Handel on the instrumental forces at his disposal and here triumphantly delivered by a La Risonanza in exuberant form, in a recording made in Saint- Michel en Thiérache in France. (GLOSSA)

Blandine Staskiewicz / Les Ambassadeurs / Alexis Kossenko TEMPESTA

Never judge a book by its cover. Mind you, the faux tattoos on Blandine Staskiewicz’s bare shoulders proclaiming ‘Tempesta – Handel & Vivaldi’ make one of the cringeworthiest album covers I’ve seen in a long while (perhaps the lack of available skin explains why Pergolesi and Porpora aren’t mentioned). Quite apart from that, does the world really need yet another ‘Ombra mai fù’? Once past the outward impression, you hear Alexis Kossenko and his orchestra Les Ambassadeurs offering superb value as always. ‘Spesso di nubi cinto’ from Porpora’s Carlo il Calvo launches proceedings thrillingly, with imaginative orchestral phrasing allied to Staskiewicz’s impressively precise and limpidly shaped coloratura, and there’s more virtuoso volatility in ‘Torbido in volto’ from Pergolesi’s Adriano in Siria.

Staskiewicz sensibly alternates these stormy arias with a judicious assortment of slow ones; there is gentler melodic sensitivity during Vivaldi’s ‘Sovvente il sole’ from the pasticcio Andromeda liberata, in which vocal serenity is complemented sympathetically by solo violinist Zefira Valova (who applies a few surprising chromatic embellishments fleetingly). A self-indulgently luxuriant ‘Ombra mai fù’ almost justifies its existence between the charismatic liveliness of ‘Brilla nell’alma’ from Handel’s Alessandro and the lively rustic wittiness of ‘Io son fra l’onde’ from Vivaldi’s La verità in cimento (which features Kossenko’s vivacious piccolo obbligato). The tormented soliloquy ‘Pensieri’ from Handel’s Agrippina and the lovely cavatina ‘Quando mai spietata sorte’ from Radamisto both feature Gilles Vanssons’s poignant oboe-playing. I do not always sense tangible engagement with dramatic characterisations, but the nuanced vibrancy from Staskiewicz and Les Ambassadeurs in the tempestuous ‘Siam navi all’onde algenti’ from Vivaldi’s Olimpiade is irresistible. (Gramophone)

Le Concert Spirituel / Hervé Niquet JEAN -PHILIPPE RAMEAU Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour

The latest in Hervé Niquet's 'reinvigorations' of French operatic music from the Baroque and beyond for Glossa is Rameau’s 1747 'Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour'. A ballet heroïque in a prologue and three entrées, the whole work was designed to comprise a complete theatrical spectacle. Music for dancing – as befits a ballet – is given a prominent role and Rameau is able to create especially expressive symphonies and to give the choruses – even a double-chorus – an integral role in the action. Added to this are supernatural effects, and plots for the entrées which explored the then uncommon world of Egyptian mythology (including a musical depiction of the flooding of the River Nile). In his vocal music Rameau deftly switches between Italianate style and the French mode, current in the mid-18th century, allowing the distinguished team of vocal soloists to demonstrate their accomplished talents. Overseen by the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles, and with booklet notes from Thomas Soury, this new recording is an important addition to the Rameau catalogue – the more so in the 250th anniversary year of the composer’s death. It brings to life one of Rameau’s finer, if underrated, compositions, and a dramatic work written on the cusp of important reforms in opera. (Presto Classical) 

Jean-Philippe Rameau originally conceived Les Fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour as a ballet héroïque on the subject of the Egyptian gods. Pragmatically, he later adapted it to celebrate the royal marriage of Louis, Dauphin of France to Maria Josepha of Saxony. This 2014 Glossa release marks the 250th anniversary of Rameau's death, though the music is far from gloomy. Le Concert Spirituel, under the direction of Hervé Niquet, performs the ballet in delightful Baroque style, with rhythmic precision, scintillating ornamentation, and fresh sonorities, and the re-creation of Rameau's score has all the elegance and panache one would expect of a courtly entertainment. The vocal writing is quite florid and fanciful, but the French cast is a joy to hear, even though the mythological libretto is quite stilted and almost nonsensical by modern standards. Recorded in Versailles, the sound is extraordinarily clear, vibrant, and detailed, so audiophiles are in for a treat, even though the format is standard CD. Highly recommended for fans of Baroque theater works. (Blair Sanderson)