This was a somewhat disappointing event in the Halle Handel Festival, for reasons hard to put one’s finger on. Of course one can hardly blame Alessandro Scarlatti for not being Handel, but it might be argued that the latter was more adept in presenting disembodied beings with a human level of differentiation (eg Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno). It is also a fact, however, that many of the festival's venues leave something to be desired acoustically, and this certainly applies to the Dom (Reform Cathedral).
La Santissima Annunziata depicts a familiar event in the Christian story, namely the angel’s announcement to the Virgin Mary that she has been chosen to give birth to the Son of God, something which, one imagines, would certainly give rise to a spectrum of thoughts. In this imagining, the streams of consciousness are personified in three singers: Pensiero di Verginità (thought of virginity), Pensiero di Humità (thought of humility) and Pensiero di Sospetto (thought of suspicion). These three “thoughts” give form to her forebodings as to her fate, finally resolved in her acceptance of it and all it entails, for both her own suffering and the redemption of humanity.
The estimable Europa Galante was led by its usual conductor, Fabio Biondi, from the violin. While they played with energy and cohesion, at times they seemed to be in a different concert to the singers – a quirk of the acoustics?
Roberta Invernizzi has always been a force to be reckoned with and here, as the Virgin Mary, she threw herself into the role, beginning and ending the oratorio. Her soprano has lost something of its former brilliance, but she filled the space, singing with precision and dramatic phrasing across the spectrum of emotions demanded by the role. The Angel was sung by mezzo-soprano Andreina Drago; at first she was not totally audible over the orchestra but became more so as time went on, and sang with nice tone.
Pensiero di Verginità was sung by soprano Valentina Molinari, also hard to hear at first, with quite a bit of vibrato but palpable feeling. The audibility problem also extended to Pensiero di Humità – Marina de Liso – but in due course she could be heard, and impressed with a rich caressing alto. The third thought, that of suspicion, had no trouble being heard, in the person of plangent tenor Jorge Navarro Colorado (perhaps his height helped?). Overall an interesting but somewhat frustrating experience.
