Handel: Alcina

Tenendo conto che si tratta di una registrazione di circa 20 anni fa, la qualità audio/video è soddisfacente.Ottima l'esecuzione musicale e degli interpreti.Amerigo

Great singing of a wonderful baroque Handel opera. However, unfortunately sets seem unimaginative, for this lyrical and romantic story full of magic and intrigue. Instead you get some eroticism with a little nudity and simulated sex. So this is o.k., I guess.

If you are wondering how to turn Handel's opera of island magic and light romantic humor into a drawing room exercise in tedious alienation, then this is the DVD for you. The set and costuming give not the slightest hint that all the action takes place somewhere other than a the dingiest drawing room that must be in the dreariest corner of a forever pea soup London.Each of the characters seems to be in their own emotionally sealed bubble, always singing and acting past each other. While all the other characters are merely dramatic windowless monads, Alcina's performance stands out as positively fingernails-on-a-chalkboard painful. Alcina's closest approach to bewitching charm is her embarrassing confusion of bare-chested hostility radiating in all directions in a failed attempt to convey some kind of raw eroticism.Where is the island? Where is the magic? Where are all the former lovers enchanted into wild beasts? Where is any hint of genuine passion or wit or humor? And because Alcina's magic has been lost throughout, the climatic tragedy of the unravelling of all of her powers is likewise lost.The true value of this performance is how grateful it will make you for any other approach to this opera you will ever come across.

I saw a production of Alcina done by the San Francisco Opera many years ago when Pamela Rosenberg was program director. That production resembled this one almost entirely. I loved it!! This Stuttgart Opera version is an absolute joy. Alice Coote is the perfect Ruggiero. Catherine Nagelstad is a superb Alcina. The staging is modern and makes much of the variations possible in human sexuality. Combined with Handel's wonderful music and you are in for a treat. I own other recordings on CD, such as the magnificent Fleming/Graham/Dessay/William Christie performance which is astounding. However, this DVD is my favorite visually. I love Alice Coote!!

I don't know why everyone is so focused on the breasts. I thought this was going to be some vulgar nasty production. It is simply a dress with a cut out in the breast area. Handel is well known for long repetitive arias and many productions of his works have awkward staging to try to keep the action moving. Such is the case here. It would be better if the singers had just stood still. That being said, Handel's music is awesome, all the singing is excellent and Alice Coots, as always, is phenomenal. The orchestra is also superb. Because of the distracting awkward staging, the Fleming/Graham/ Dessay CD might be preferable but this is still worth buying, I think

J'admets que les décors de cette mise en scène sont laids et étouffants. Du papier peint défraichi, des objets entreposés comme dans un grenier. Mais avancer cela comme une critique, comme j'ai vu sur de nombreux sites, me parait assez réducteur. En effet, la beauté esthétique ne peut être le seul critère d'évaluation d'une oeuvre d'art. Et qu'en est-il de Guernica de Picasso ou des dessins de Goya? Ou dans le domaine des mises en scène, le motel de Norman Bates dans Psycho de Hitchcock? Ici, le château de la sorcière Alcina est montré comme un lieu d'enfermement, un huis clos existentialiste en quelque sorte, où se déploient passions, jalousies, envies et magie noire, avec une direction d'acteurs très poussée. Ce n'est pas mis en scène comme une idylle à la campagne, ce que le livret ne suggère d'ailleurs pas. Un grand cadre situe en plus un espace où se déploient les fantasmes, les peurs et les obsessions secrètes des personnages.La musique sous la direction d'Alan Hacker est réussie et il y a de magnifiques airs dans cet opéra. Les chanteurs jouent et chantent avec beaucoup de conviction et forment un ensemble fort homogène. Surtout Catherine Naglestad incarne avec talent une sorcière enchanteresse et maudite. Très convaincante la Ruggiero de Alice Coote (j'ai dû vérifier plusieurs fois sur le livret qu'il s'agissait bien d'une femme qui joue, remarquable) et le Bradamante de Helene Schneiderhahn.J'aurais préféré que le livret en trois langues qui est joint donne des explications sur cette mise en scène au lieu de ne donner que des généralités sur Händel et Alcina qu'on peut trouver en deux clics sur Internet. Si on veut se faire une idée avant de commander, cet opéra se trouve en intégralité sur YouTube, ne pas tenir compte du mauvais son, sur le DVD il est excellent.

I chose this DVD because it was a modern production. Took a little while to accept the scenery and where the piece was based. But after a while you were absorbed with the music and the voices. Good acting.

Too much nudity for me