Search - Drew Minter, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan :: George Frideric Handel: Arias for Durastanti

Memento

Akimon Azuki | 09/14/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Listening to this album is a bittersweet experience: it has been out of print for a long while, and I have only managed to score a copy last year, after Lorraine's untimely death in July 2006. Even iTunes put up a copy right away- but I still don't understand, why on earth did it go out of print in the first place? Was it the funky cover, the famous caricature of vocal superstars of the day - too weird..? Or was it simply that it's too good and makes other recordings sound trivial and bland?

But enough about the earthly details. Lorraine's art transcends the reality. On this album, the practical issues of singing are hardly noticeable. There's such vocal perfection: endless colors, brilliant, improvised ornamentation and the sheer, visceral beauty of her voice, but they are all merely put to the task of finding an emotional truth in each aria. These showpieces, written for Durastanti, a model of capricious prima donna, suddenly come alive with gale force.

I find the two of Sesto's arias, Cara Speme and L'angue offeso, to be most moving, but the whole set is sublime, and I think every listener will find something very personal on this album. It's not as well known as LHL's other Handel recordings and her legendary album of Bach cantatas (Bach: Cantatas BWV 82 and 199), but for me it stands as one of the greatest singing recitals in the recording history.

She left us much to soon, but she left us this.

"