Handel - Athalia / Joan Sutherland, Kirkby, Bowman, A. Jones, Rolfe Johnson, AAM, Hogwood
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Messiah is the best known of Handel's oratorios, but it's far from typical. More common are Old Testament narratives such as Israel in Egypt, Joshua, and Saul. One of Handel's finest such efforts is Athalia, a tightly constructed, vivid retelling of the downfall of tyrannical Queen Athalia, daughter of Jezebel and worshiper of Baal. This superb 1985 recording was controversial in its initial release, due to the casting in the title role of the soon-to-retire Joan Sutherland--not the diva you'd expect to find starring in a period-practice Handel performance. Dame Joan doesn't exactly fit in with the baroque instruments (she overwhelms the obbligato flute in one aria) or with her colleagues (all Hogwood regulars), but her performance works: the tormented Athalia comes off as a creature very much separated from those around her, and Sutherland's notoriously mushy diction and inept acting are replaced by clear enunciation and real dramatic involvement. Anthony Rolfe Johnson, James Bowman (in unusually good voice), David Thomas, and the young Aled Jones all do sterling work as well. Then there's the radiant Emma Kirkby, who sings her high-flying, florid role with remarkable clarity, precision, and imagination. Check out her opening aria, "Blooming virgins": you won't find a better example of how to embellish a da capo aria--or how to transform a simply lilting song into a thrilling showpiece. --Matthew Westphal
Handel - Athalia / Joan Sutherland, Kirkby, Bowman, A. Jones, Rolfe Johnson, AAM, Hogwood, Music, George Frideric Handel, Christopher Hogwood, Joan Sutherland, Emma Kirkby, The Academy of Ancient Music, New College Choir, James Bowman, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Aled Jones, Classical, Classical Music, Opera / Operetta / Oratorio
Handel - Athalia / Joan Sutherland, Kirkby, Bowman, A. Jones, Rolfe Johnson, AAM, Hogwood
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