Word: castrati
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Samuel Johnson, in a famous aphorism, once derided opera as "an exotic and irrational entertainment." That may have been true in London two centuries ago, when castrati sopranos warbled Handel in Italian before an audience of uncomprehending Britons. But during the past two decades, a wave of new American operas has put the lie to Johnson's dictum. One after another, composers have produced works teeming with powerful drama, accessible idioms and contemporary relevance...
...which the recording was made (St. Bartholemew's in Orford, Suffolk) seems inappropriate to the drawing-room setting for which the Canzonettas would originally have been destined. But this detracts only slightly from the overall listening experience. Watkinson's voice is splendid, negotiating passage that, originally written for castrati, are at times unsettlingly low. Wilson's accompaniment on the pianoforte rather than the modern piano is unexpected. However, right from the opening measures of the cantata, it seems to fit perfectly, illustrating ably the merits of performance on "period" instruments. Overall, this is a superb recording that sheds light...
Today Handel's 41 operas, once so fashionable, are infrequently performed. This is due to changing tastes and the disappearance of the singers for whom many of his major roles were written: the castrati, the surgically altered male sopranos whose vocal power, awesome breath control and dazzling technique stunned audiences from the Sistine Chapel to Covent Garden. Of his 24 oratorios in English, only the redoubtable Messiah is a concerthall staple, and his best-loved instrumental works are such occasional pieces as the Water Music. Oddly, for one who used to loom so large, Handel awaits popular rediscovery...
...Coronation of Poppea, first performed in 1642 in Venice. History's first great opera, Poppea is infrequently performed not because of the plot, which set a high standard of treachery and lubricity, but because of the special demands of Baroque convention, which included the casting of castrati in principal roles. Further, the musical idiom of early 17th century opera sounds strange to audiences accustomed to the ripe lyricism of Bellini, Verdi and Puccini...
...press releases modestly put it, "an unusual libretto by Frederick the Great." Graun was the flutist-emperor's court composer, and his duties included writing opera seria, all of which were naturally forgotten when baroque opera went out of style. The Associated Artists have resurrected Montezuma, with the castrati parts down an octave so that men can sing them...