CD Review: Mirrors (Jeanine De Bique, soprano; Concerto Köln / Luca Quintavalle) Berlin Classics 0302017BC

The Trinidadian soprano Jeanine De Bique has in recent years been making quite a name for herself, garnering appreciation in the international music press. Her slender discography to date indicates but a fraction of her eclectic repertoire – Rameau’s Platée, Handel’s Rodelinda (title role) and Mahler’s Symphony no 8. The present recording is De Bique’s first solo release and comprises of opera arias from the baroque period. Yannis François, musicologist and concept creator for the album explains: “The listeners can experience different reflections of the same character as if they were looking at themselves through a broken mirror.” The arias tell of key moments in the psychological development of the protagonists, illuminate the diversity of the female experience and the relatable perspectives of their lives.

Thus, there are portraits of Cleopatra from Handel’s eponymous opera and Carl Heinrich Graun’s Cesare e Cleopatra, from 1742. Agrippina appears in Handel’s opera of 1709 and Georg Philipp Telemann’s lesser-known Germanicus of five years earlier. Rodelinda, from Handel’s 1725 opera of the same name, is contrasted with that of Graun’s eponymous opera from 1741. Alcina, from Handel’s 1728 opera, has a counterpart in the character of Morgana in Riccardo Broschi’s neglected L’Isola D’Alcina from 1735. Deidamia in Handel’s under-rated eponymous 1741 opera is paired with the forgotten 1745 opera Achille in Sciro by Gennaro Manna. Overtures to the opera Partenope by Handel and Leonardo Vinci provide interludes at junctures in this interesting programme.

Many exponents of baroque opera fall down in my experience often fall down on two counts: their enunciation of the text and ability to maintain the desired emotion convincingly throughout the aria. Not so, with Jeanine De Bique. On the evidence of this recording, she’s a singer equally at home in faster, more dramatic repertoire (Handel's 'L'alma mia fra le tempeste' from Agrippina), where her voice flashes with rapier accuracy, as the more contemplative arias (Handel’s ‘Se pietà di me non senti’ from Giulio Cesare), which find her gleaming tones lingering seductively on every note. There’s more though, and it is best summed up in the word feeling. In Jeanine De Bique’s assumptions, these are not dry renditions, but characters inhabited, lived and brought to life through the arias.

The Concerto Köln under Luca Quintavalle’s direction provide appositely discrete yet characterful accompaniment. The recording is first rate, the three booklet notes on the recording concept are informative and the texts and translations are available via a QR code.

If you feel in need of a New Year’s gift – and who does not after the past years – Jeanine De Bique stylish and up-to-date take on the baroque is sure to brighten your life for some time to come. 

New productions of Enescu's Oedipe in Berlin and Paris

Time was when productions of Enescu's only opera Oedipe were as rare as hen's teeth. Not any more!

Image credit: Komische Oper Berlin / (c) Monika Rittershaus

In recent years, the production by La Fura dels Baus has been seen in Brussels, Bucharest, Buenos Aires, Cagliari and London. Other productions have been mounted or revived in  Berlin (Deutsche Oper),Toulouse (see my review on the 'Other writing page'), Salzburg and Amsterdam, plus a host of concert performances including by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2017, for which I wrote the programme notes.  

Now, almost simultaneously, two new productions appear at the Opera de Paris (Basille) and the Komische Oper Berlin. From what I read about them, both would seem to be productions worth catching.

Mark Berry's very intelligent review for Seen and Heard International of the Komische Opera production makes me hope that - finally - this great opera might make it to DVD.  

Meanwhile, it's good to know that the ever probing conductor Ingo Metzmacher is revisiting the score after such an interesting production in Amsterdam a few years back. He will lead the Paris production, which premieres imminently. If this New York Times report is to believed, should not be short of directorial ideas. There's an interesting interview with the director, Wajdi Mouawad, on the Opera de Paris website.

Not before time, the power of Enescu's opera with its universal message for mankind is no longer in the shadows.