The Handel revival rages onward, sometimes upward, even at the Metropolitan Opera. The company did not discover the Baroque composer until 1984, when Rinaldo was mustered as a vehicle for Marilyn Horne. Samson arrived two years later, a favour for Jon Vickers, and Giulio Cesare followed in 1988. Purists found the theatre, capacity 4,000, too big, the approach too romantic. Still, most were grateful that attention had been paid. Now Rodelinda has been added, a glamorous showcase for Renée Fleming.
The opening house was full and the audience cheered as if it were an evening of Puccini's greatest hits. No one seemed to mind that the performance tested Sitzfleischfor four hours, or that the libretto belabours the preposterous. Nearly 280 years after its premiere, Handel's convoluted saga of courtly love, intrigue and forgiveness in 7th-century Milan made its mark at last.
The elaborate Met version, staged by Stephen Wadsworth and designed by Thomas Lynch, advances the inaction to Handel's time. The result is picturesque if anachronistic. Indulging New Yorkers' fondness for spectacle, the producers supply a handsome series of realistic decors, sets rolling on and off from the wings, once even rising on lifts to the top of the proscenium. The stage is populated with busy supernumeraries, and, yes, an inevitable horse. Franco Zeffirelli still casts his silly shadow.
The principals manage to assert themselves against the distracting odds. Fleming sings exquisitely as the sweetly agonised heroine, some smudged fiorature and mannered phrasing notwithstanding. Stephanie Blythe performs sumptuously as the seconda donna. The roles intended for castrati are assigned to contrasting countertenors, both virtuosic: David Daniels as the deposed king and Bejun Mehta as his loyal lieutenant. John Relyea grumbles deftly as the scheming counsellor, and Kobie van Rensburg reveals much style, not so much voice, as the royal usurper. Making an auspicious debut in the pit, Harry Bicket pays equal attention to dramatic impetus, vocal frailty and historical authenticity.
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