Germany Bayreuth Baroque 2024 – Gala Live performance: Bruno de Sá (male soprano), Il Pomo d’Oro / Alfia Bakieva (violin/director). Markgräfliches Opernhaus, Bayreuth, 6.9.2024. (CC)
Handel – Gloria in Excelsis Deo, HWV deest (1706/07?); Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, HWV 72 (1708): ‘Qui l’angel’
Vivaldi – In furore iusissimae irae, RV 626 (1720s); L’Olimpiade, RV 725 (1734): ‘Siam navi all’onde algenti’
Hasse – Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra (1725): ‘Un sol tuo sospiro’
Porpora – Germanico in Germania (1732): ‘Parto, ti lascio’
Stepping in at Bayreuth’s resplendent Markgräfliches Opernhaus at brief discover for an indisposed Jakub Józef Orliński, male soprano Bruno de Sà supplied a considerably disappointing substitute expertise. De Sà had underwhelmed in Versailles in April 2023 (evaluation right here), and certainly the delights of the current diversified programme tended to stem from the orchestra, the top-flight group Il Pomo d’Oro, right here directed from the violin by Alfia Bakieva. Listening to their verve within the opening of Handel’s Gloria in Excelsis Deo was extremely energising; the contrastive passage ‘Et in terra pax’ part carried nice weight. The issue was de Sà’s slightly tremulous strategy, coupled with a markedly weak low soprano register.
The appellation ‘deest’ within the catalogue quantity for that Gloria refers to a piece that was lacking from the primary Handel-Werke-Verzeichnis (Handel Work Catalogue, actually translated); it was rediscovered within the library of the Royal Academy of Music in 2001 (‘deest’ is an inflected type of the Latin ‘desum’ that means ‘lacking’). The date of the Gloria stays unsure, however presumably it’s across the 1706 or 1707 mark. Turning our consideration to the current efficiency, the tempo change at ‘Gratias’ in the course of the ‘Laudamus te’ was very properly managed right here; however the ‘Domine Deus, Rex coelestis’ may have been extra profound; it leads, in any case, right into a decidedly lachrymose ‘Qui tollis’. The ‘Quoniam,’ in distinction, is joyous, and definitely was from Il Pomo d’Oro, however de Sà appeared slightly weak-powered.
One in every of three surviving solo motets for soprano composed by Vivaldi in Rome, In furore iustissimae irae is stuffed with contrasts and boasts a fearsomely energetic opening from the strings (after which the soloist embarks on really virtuoso roulades). The layers of expression within the second aria, ‘Tunc meus fletus’, are innumerable. Il Pomo d’Oro realised this, however de Sà appeared much less concerned. That aria is the clear focus of the motet; a brief ‘Alleluia’ rounds off the piece, definitely spectacular technically however simply shy of that significantly Vivaldian sense of exultation it requires.
After the interval, extra Handel ‘Qui l’angel’, Aci’s aria from Handel’s Italian setting of the Acis fantasy (the English one is extra well-known, though I’ve beforehand reported on two full performances of the Italian, one by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Cadogan Corridor in January 2022, the opposite from Piacenza by way of OperaStreaming in November 2020). The title of the aria is extra usually rendered in a fuller kind as ‘Qui l’augel di pianta in pianta’ and the aria itself options an obbligato oboe; the last-minute programme sadly didn’t credit score the oboist, however his echo was violinist Alfia Bakieva. The piece requires a ‘third obbligato’ in some passages, the solo voice, and it didn’t fairly work right here; the sense of give and take was simply absent.
There’s something Vivaldian in regards to the power of the opening of Hasse’s ‘Un sol tuo sospiro’ (Cleopatra’s aria from the opera Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra). If the phrase ’sospiro’ may suggest lachrymose sighs, the reality is way completely different. The vocal half is definitely agile (and de Sà definitely has a effective trill) however most intriguing is the soloist’s interactions – duetting – with the violin. This was a reminder of the fertile invention of Johann Adolph Hasse, and that we have to hear extra of his music. A recording of the complete opera, by the way, is obtainable on Deutsche Harmonia Mundi with Le Musiche Nove and Claudio Osele.
Some might know ‘Parto ti lascio,’ Arminio’s aria from Porpora’s opera Germanico in Germania, by way of Cecilia Bartoli, who has executed nice issues for lesser-known repertoire. This actually is a sluggish and expressive aria and acted as an unscheduled pre-echo of the Porpora opera the very subsequent night time (Ifigenia in Aulide). Curiously, the primary full recording of this opera was launched on Decca in 2018 and options Max Emanuel Cenčić, who directed and sang in Ifigenia.
Lastly, Aminta’s aria ‘Siam navi all’onde algenti’ from Vivaldi’s L’Olimpiade, an opera final heard (in full) courtesy of Irish Nationwide Opera at Covent Backyard’s Linbury Theatre solely this Might (evaluation right here). The piece is magical: the voice floats over orchestral waves within the central part, whereas the outer sections present fireworks aplenty.
When it comes to repertoire, this live performance can’t be faulted, and Il Pomo d’Oro stays a category act. For all of de Sá’s posturing (and, certainly, glam outfits), it was he who was the weak hyperlink in a live performance that held a lot potential.
Colin Clarke
Featured Picture: Male soprano Bruno de Sá in Bayreuth’s Markgräfliches Opernhaus © Clemens Manser Pictures
