Handel: Ezio, HWV29

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…a long succession of fine arias offering opportunities for six principals that are fully seized on this occasion. With keenly etched orchestral playing and lucid sound, this is unusually consistent,... — BBC Music Magazine, July 2009, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 6th Apr 2009
Catalogue No: 4778073
Label: DG Archiv
Series: Alan Curtis Handel Operas
Length: 3 hours 6 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

June 2009

Editor's Choice

Handel: Ezio (or Aetius), 1732

Work length3:19

$0.85

$1.15

Alan Curtis (director)
Il Complesso Barocco
Recorded: 2008-09-23
Recording Venue: Teatro Comunale di Lonigo

Overture

Track length3:19

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Handel: Ezio (or Aetius), 1732 / Act 1

Work length1:04:27

$17.85

$24.15

Ann Hallenberg (mezzo-soprano), Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani (tenor), Marianne Andersen (contralto), Sonia Prina (contralto), Vito Priante (bass (vocal)), Alan Curtis (director), Karina Gauvin (soprano)
Il Complesso Barocco
Recorded: 2008-09-23
Recording Venue: Teatro Comunale di Lonigo

La Marche

Track length1:28

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$1.15

Signor, vincemo.

Track length0:57

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Se tu la reggi al volo

Track length5:29

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Lascia, ch'al sen ti stringa

Track length2:20

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Pensa a serbarmi, o cara

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È tempo, o genitore,

Track length2:03

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Caro padre, a me non dèi

Track length5:34

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Un oltraggiato amore

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Il nocchier che si figura

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Del vincitor ti chiedo

Track length1:17

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Quanto mai felici siete

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Perché tanto tormento

Track length0:16

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Se un bell'ardire

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Olà, Ezio qui venga!

Track length0:24

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Se povero il ruscello

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Signor! Duce, un momento

Track length2:32

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So chi t'accese

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Ezio, ti leggo in volto - Ezio, volle il germano

Track length1:33

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Se fedele mi brama

Track length3:45

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A Cesare nascondi - Via! per mio danno aduna

Track length1:27

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Finché un zeffiro soave

Track length8:44

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Handel: Ezio (or Aetius), 1732 / Act 2

Work length1:01:00

$14.45

$19.55

Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani (tenor), Sonia Prina (soprano), Marianne Andersen (contralto), Karina Gauvin (soprano), Ann Hallenberg (mezzo-soprano), Alan Curtis (director), Sonia Prina (contralto), Vito Priante (bass (vocal))
Il Complesso Barocco
Recorded: 2008-09-23
Recording Venue: Teatro Comunale di Lonigo

Sinfonia

Track length1:17

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Qual silenzio è mai questo! - Ognia via custodieta - Cesare, invano

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Vi fida lo sposo

Track length5:07

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E puoi d'un tuo delitto

Track length1:15

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Va dal furor portata

Track length3:42

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Che fo? dove mi volgo - Cesare a te m'invia

Track length3:08

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Recagli quell'acciaro

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Varo, se amasti mai

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Quel finger affetti

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Folle è colui

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Nasce al bosco

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Massimo, anch'io lo veggo - Onoria, non partir!

Track length1:48

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Finché per te mi palpita

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Olà! qui si conduca - Stelle! che miro?

Track length3:38

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La mia costanza

Track length6:06

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Ah! ingrata! - Chi di me più felice?

Track length0:50

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Ecco alle mie catene

Track length7:00

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Handel: Ezio (or Aetius), 1732 / Act 3

Work length57:35

$15.30

$20.70

Marianne Andersen (contralto), Sonia Prina (contralto), Ann Hallenberg (mezzo-soprano), Vito Priante (bass (vocal)), Alan Curtis (director), Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani (tenor), Karina Gauvin (soprano)
Il Complesso Barocco
Recorded: 2008-09-23
Recording Venue: Teatro Comunale di Lonigo

Sinfonia

Track length1:35

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$1.15

Ezio qui venga

Track length2:13

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$1.15

Guarda pria se in questa fronte

Track length5:53

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Eh ben, da quel superbo

Track length1:33

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Peni tu per un 'ingrata

Track length3:53

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Olà! Varo si chiami! - Signor, tutto sedai - Ezio qui tra di noi - Vedi qual dono!

Track length2:55

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Se la mia vita

Track length9:30

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Che mai sarà? - Esequito è il tuo cenno - Liete novelle - Massimo, di scolparti

Track length3:08

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Per tutto il timore

Track length3:45

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Cara figlia, per te vivo

Track length1:02

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Tergi l'ingiuste lagrime

Track length3:42

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Misera, dove son?

Track length0:55

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Ah! non son io che parlo

Track length5:40

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Inorridisci, o Roma

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Già risonar dintorno

Track length5:27

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Ah traditori!

Track length1:21

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Stringo alfine - Sulle sponde - Cangia sorte - Un gran cor non dà ricetto

Track length3:12

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È più bella quella fede

Track length1:01

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About
Reviews
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About

Rarely heard after its London premiere in 1732, Ezio, in its first ever studio recording, is rediscovered by Curtis and his cast to be a masterpiece of music drama. Strong characters, thrilling arias, potent instrumentals, and rare touches – such as Handel’s only operatic bass aria with trumpet obbligato and another air enlivened by the passing skirl of bagpipes – make fascinating listening. Metastasio’s plot poetically gets down to passion, murder, and revenge. Superb Baroque specialist Ann Hallenberg shines as Ezio, a role created by the castrato Senesino

Reviews

July 2009

…a long succession of fine arias offering opportunities for six principals that are fully seized on this occasion. With keenly etched orchestral playing and lucid sound, this is unusually consistent, dramatically motivated performance.

2010

Ezio is like a Roman thriller. Those wanting superficial thrills and glamorous wit from their Baroque operas might not know what to make of it, and the original audience in 1732 certainly didn't (it was one of Handel's worst commercial flops). However, it frequently shows the composer at his most masterful.
Alan Curtis sagely allows Handel's music to speak for itself unhindered by artificial gimmicks: ritornellos are subtle, continuo accompaniment of recitatives is exemplary for its pacing and judgement, and singers declaim their texts with utmost clarity. The sole disadvantage is that more passionate music is underplayed and lightweight, which means that sometimes it lacks dramatic punch and expressiveness. For instance, the dance-like courtliness in the overture is elegantly moulded but could do with some fiery intensity, and the final chorus is curiously underdone. So much of the performance is musically meticulous, but it would have flourished with a few more degrees of dramatic heat.
'Ecco alle mie catene', an emotional prisonscene aria at the end of Act 2, is sensitively sung by Ann Hallenberg but Il Complesso Barocco sound underpowered; a better synergy between instruments and voice is achieved in 'Se la mia vita'. Fulvia's dazzling aria di bravura 'La mia costanza' is impressive for Karina Gauvin's articulate stylishness and a fantastic cadenza.
Sonia Prina's singing is admirable. Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani's fast runs are a bit dry in the superbly played 'Và! dal furor portata'. The unusual instrumentation for flutes and violette in Onoria's 'Quanto mai felice' is excellently played. Vito Priante sings Varo's splendid trumpet aria 'Già risonar d'intorno' with robust precision (Curtis adds a timpani part). Overall, this is an excellent and much-needed first complete recording, and confirms that Ezio is a fascinating serious drama.

June 2009

Alan Curtis sagely allows Handel's music to speak for itself unhindered by artificial gimmicks: ritornellos are subtle, continuo accompaniment of recitatives is exemplary for its pacing and judgement, and singers declaim their texts with utmost clarity. Overall, this is an excellent and much-needed first complete recording, and confirms that Ezio is a fascinating serious drama.

2010

The performance...relies on fresh, mainly young voices, cleanly focused...Curtis with his period-performance forces is also fresh and lively, with the acoustic of a theatre nicely caught. A valuable set of an enjoyable rarity.

5th April 2009

As Ezio, Ann Hallenberg’s serene mezzo contrasts well with Sonia Prina’s beefy emperor Valentiniano, while Karina Gauvin’s virago-like Fulvia, Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani’s treacherous, scheming Massimo and Vito Priante’s Varo are all outstanding. The drama sizzles and the arias ravish the ear.

14th August 2009

...apart from the conflicted Massimo, none of the characters has much psychological depth. It's wonderfully done, though, with Alan Curtis and Il Complesso Barocco admirably capturing its sombre mood and some very flamboyant singing from Karina Gauvin (Fulvia) and Ann Hallenberg (Ezio).

25th April 2009

Built on a stern libretto, with an initially slow plot, Handel’s Ezio flopped spectacularly in 1732. While Curtis’s revival with Il Compesso Barocco and choice voices doesn’t reveal a lost masterpiece, the music and drama soon heat up. Karina Gauvin is particularly fine as the patrician’s daughter who journeys from innocence to outrage, and Ann Hallenberg glows as the Roman general Ezio.

Handel: Ezio, HWV29

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