Concert Review: Everything Old is New Again

Conductor Ton Koopman gives a history lesson at the Kennedy Center.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Conductor, scholar and multi-instrumentalist Ton Koopman led the National Symphony Orchestra
this week at the Kennedy Center. Photo © 2017 Berlin Philharmonic for the digital concert hall.

It’s not every week that a symphony orchestra springs a trio of premieres on its subscription audience, but that's what happened on Friday morning at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. The ensemble was the National Symphony Orchestra and the conductor of said concerts was Ton Koopman. The Amsterdam-based organist, harpsichordist and scholar remains a legend in the field of period and historically informed performance. 

Concert Review: Because It's There

Kyung-Wha Chung plays Bach.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Mountan ear: Kyung-Wha Chung and friend.
Photo from ICA courtesy International Classical Artists.

When Johann Sebastian Bach, a superb violinist, wrote the six Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, he intended for these works to be an instructional tool, a manual to challenge students and further their abilities on the stringed instrument. It was not until the 19th century (when the works were first published) and the rise of the string virtuoso that playing all six works, in a public recital became a challenge that appealed to every violinist looking to establish or further their reputation.

The Superconductor Interview: Michelle Ross

The violinist has the keys to Bach's solo repertory for her instrument.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Violinist Michelle Ross.
Photo © The Juilliard School.

"There are so many ways in to this music." Violinist Michelle Ross is speaking of the height of the repertory for her instruments: the six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin by Johann Sebastian Bach. She last played these works on December 27th in a complete cycle. On Sunday at Le Poisson Rouge, she will offer Discovering Bach, interspersing movements from the six with pieces from Messiaen and Ravel.

Concert Review: The 19-ton Orchestra

Christine Brewer and Paul Jacobs at Alice Tully Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

In recital: soprano Christine Brewer sang at Alice Tully Hall on Sunday.
Photo courtesy Lincoln Center.

Of the keyboard instruments, the pipe organ is the one that can approximate not only the sound of a full symphony orchestra, but the unique tone of the human voice as well. On Sunday afternoon, dramatic soprano Christine Brewer and organist Paul Jacobs gave a concert in Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. This performance, part of the 2015 White Light Festival, paired Ms. Brewer's big, potent instrument with the Alice Tully Hall Organ.

Concert Review: The Most Exquisite Claudio

John Eliot Gardiner conducts Monteverdi at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Photo of Sir John Eliot Gardiner © 2014 by James Cheadle Low.
Painting of Claudio Monteverdi by Bernardo Tozzi circa 1640. Photo alteration by the author.

Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir rose to prominence fifty years ago with a concert of Monteverdi's Vespri della Beata Vergine at Cambridge. Last week, conductor and choir celebrated that anniversary at Carnegie Hall with two concerts. These performances, featuring Monteverdi's Vespers on Thursday and the opera L'Orfeo on Friday, were the culmination of Carnegie's month-long Before Bach festival. They mark a half century at the vanguard of the historically informed performance movement.

Opera Review: They Can't Dance

Les Arts Florissants revives Rameau's Platée.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Les Arts Florissants. That's William Christie in the lower right.
Photo by Guy Vivien © 2013 Erato Records.

On Wednesday night, William Christie's period performance ensemble Les Arts Florissants returned to Lincoln Center. The occasion: a  concert performance of Platée, the astonishing comédie lyrique by Jean-Philippe Rameau that marks the birth of comic opera in France. The year was 1745.

Written for the comic sensibilities of the court of Louis XV, the comedy in Platée is both hilarious and somewhat repellent. It is the story of the god Jupiter, who dallies with the hideously ugly swamp-dwelling nymph Platée in order to convince his jealous wife Juno that he is actually faithful. In the end, Platée is spurned and outraged, laughed at by the assembled cast and chorus.

Concert Review: The Baroque Basement Tapes

The American Classical Orchestra unearths Handel's Alceste.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Old school: Thomas Crawford directs the American Classical Orchestra from the keyboard.
Photo © 2014 The American Classical Orchestra.

Digging deep into the catalogue of a major composer can prove rewarding for both musicians and their audience. That was the case on a rainy Wednesday night at Alice Tully Hall, where the American Classical Orchestra performed the final program of HandelFest a four-concert program celebrating the music of Georg Frederic Handel, Britain's favorite German musical import.

Opera Review: She Just Can't Wait to Be Queen

Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble mounts L'Incoronazione di Poppea
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Passion in the palace: Nerone (Alison Taylor Cheeseman, left) macks on Poppea (Greer Davis) in
Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble's L'Incoronazione di Poppea. 
Photo by Brian Long © 2013 Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble.

The Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble took a major chance with this year's Summer Repertoire Project, pushing into the deep waters of Renaissance opera with its first production of Claudio Monteverdi's 1642 masterpiece L'Incoronazione di Poppea. Although it is the last of Monteverdi's works for the Venetian stage, Poppea is a milestone opera in that it was the first opera to portray actual historical figures on the stage instead of mythological or allegorical figures.

Concert Review: The Quickness of the Hand

András Schiff conducts the New York Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Up from the piano: soloist and conductor András Schiff.
Image courtesy the New York Philharmonic.

The Bach Variations, the New York Philharmonic's month-long excursion into the repertory of Johann Sebastian Bach, came to a fitting end this week with concerts featuring Hungarian pianist and conductor András Schiff. But where Mr. Schiff is known for his international appearances as a virtuoso concerto guest and solo performer, these concerts cast him in the less familiar role of conductor,  both from the keyboard and later, the podium.

Concert Review: Say Hello to Heaven

Isabelle Faust (no relation) appears at The Bach Variations.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Isabelle Faust and friend. Photo © harmonia mundi.

Aside from having the same surname, there is no apparent connection between German violinist Isabelle and Johann Georg Faust, the medieval philosopher who (according to legend) sold his soul to the Devil. However, given the sweet lyrical tone that Ms. Faust drew forth from her Stradivarius (the "Sleeping Beauty") at Saturday night's appearance with the New York Philharmonic, one might suspect that some unearthly forces were at work.

Opera Review: Smells Like Teen Spirit

Gotham Chamber Opera presents Eliogabalo.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Decadence dance: Micaëla Oeste and Christopher Ainsle in a scene from Eliogabalo at The Box.
Photo by Richard Termine © 2013 Gotham Chamber Opera.

The Gotham Chamber Opera has built its reputation on the performance of fringe repertory works, sometimes in unusual locations. They may have difficulty topping this season’s first show: Franco Cavalli’s 1677 opera Eliogabalo. In the spirit of its title character, one of the most depraved among Rome’s many emperors, the show was mounted at The Box, a dinky Chrystie Street performing space dedicated to the revival of burlesque theater.

Concert Review: The Triumph of Formalism

Alexander Melnikov debuts at the 92nd St. Y.

Alexander Melnikov.
Photo © 2010 harmonia mundi USA.

On Thursday night, Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov made his solo recital debut at the 92nd St. Y. The Russian pianist offered an ambitious program of Schubert, Brahms and Shostakovich.

The concert opened with Schubert's Wanderer-Fantasie, the composer's most challenging work for solo piano. Mr. Melnikov played the ringing challenge of the opening with appropriate force, and then launched into the extravagant, complicated arpeggios that so inspired later composers like Liszt.

The slow parts of the Fantasy (which incorporate material from Schubert's song The Wanderer) was played with grace, the piano notes shifting like dappled leaves. The final fast section provided the opportunity for more bravura playing, and this challenging music seemed suited to Mr. Melnikov's head-on approach.

Johannes Brahms wrote the Fantasies for Solo Piano (Op. 116) five years before his death. They consist of seven alternating Capriccio movements (played very fast and with great force) and slower Intermezzos that explore the composer's more tender side. A theme from one of these Intermezzos may have also inspired the Largo in the New World Symphony by Brahms' protége Antonín Dvorak.

Mr. Melnikov gave an even-handed reading of these sturdy pieces, bringing out the dark colors of the composer's writing for the left hand and the lighter, contrasting passages for the Right. This was not the most exciting Brahms performance, but it was steady and well-executed. It might be argued that while these are very fine pieces, the later music of Brahms is not always the most exciting.

The work everyone was eager to hear was on the second part of the program: the first twelve of Dmitri Shostakovich's challenging Twenty-Four Preludes and Fugues for Solo Piano. Written to celebrate a Bach competition in 1951, the Shostakovich works are built on the model of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. However, where Bach explores all of the tonalities in order, Shostakovich organizes his Preludes and Fugues in the order of tonal relationships by fifths.

All twenty-four Preludes and Fugues have been recorded by Mr. Melnikov (for harmonia mundi) and are known to be a specialty of this young artist. So it was surprising to see a score brought to the piano, complete with an assistant to turn pages for the pianist when necessary. The pianist took his time working through the preludes, with stops to mop his brow and adjust his piano stool.

Mannerisms aside, these were strong performances of the first half of this marathon album of works. These fugues use a wide variety of styles, from neo-baroque to the composer's own blend of Russian post-Romanticism and sarcastic wit. Most impressive: the delicate Prelude in D, with opening piano figurations that sounded as if they were being played backward. Mr. Melnikov returned for a brief encore, showing his legato and impressionistic skills with Alexander Scriabin’s Poeme No. 1, Op. 32.

The Lady Gaga Fugue

Too awesome not share here.


This is a performance of 'Bad Romance' by Lady Gaga, arranged for a three-voice fugue by Giovanni Dettori. Played on a 250-year old organ by organist Matthias Rascher, who first posted this on YouTube.

According to Mr. Rascher's YouTube page, this organ was built in 1756 by Johann Philipp Seuffert, an organ-builder based in Wurzburg. The organ is located in the Pilgrimage Church in Maria Limbach in lower Franconia.

Concert Review: The Alchemy of Handel

David Daniels and Dorothea Röschmann at Carnegie Hall

Soprano Dorothea Röschmann

Sunday afternoon's concert at Carnegie Hall paired two performers steeped in the repertory of the 18th century: the soprano Dorothea Röschmann, and the countertenor David Daniels. The two singers were expertly accompanied by the Juilliard 415 Ensemble in an all-Handel program that showcased each voice to mesmerizing effect.


In baroque opera, a strict division exists between recitative/plot development and emotional reaction. The latter is expressed through arias, which put an emphasis on development of emotional truth and embellishment second.

Ms. Röschmann, a singer heard often in Mozart, sang with stellar technique, soaring to heights with a clear, firm line that allowed equal balance between the meaning of the words and the starry flourishes that come in the recaptulation of the text. She shifted moods ably throughout the recital, from the erotic charge of "V'adoro, pupille" *from Giulio Cesare) to tragic loss in the excerpts from Rodelinda.

Countertenor David Daniels

Mr. Daniels first sang for New Yorkers as Arsamene in Handel's Xerxes at City Opera in 1997. Those performances, opposite the late Lorraine Hunt, triggered that company's renaissance as a haven for the performance of baroque opera. He then moved on to the Met, rising to heights with appearances in operas like Orphée et Euridice, a role that he will bring back to New York in May.

Although he sings from the "head", Mr. Daniels' voice is radically different from most countertenors. He is equipped with a round, viola-like resonance that is rare among his ilk: producing powerful, fully formed tones that never sound flutey or forced. This formidable technique was best heard on the elegant "Crede l'uomo ch'egli riposi", and the moving "Perfido, di a quell'empio tiranna" from Radamisto.


Jory Vinkour and Monica Huggett led the Juilliard 415 ensemble, which takes its numeric name from the tuning pitch of the note A (415) in baroque period performance. Using theorbo, hautboys, harpsichord, and old-style bassoons, the Juilliard musicians provided expert accompaniment to the arias, including the complex antiphonal passages from Giulio Cesare. The orchestra also had its time in the spotlight, playing engaging accounts of the Rodelinda overture, a Handel passacaglia and a lithe account of the second Concerto Grosso, Op. 3.

The individual excerpts were exceptional, but they paled compared to the molten alloy of these two voices together in the three duets on the program. The first was "Io t'abbraccio", which featured Mr. Daniels and Ms. Röschmann's voices melting together in a complex weave of sound. "Scherzano sul tu volto" (moved earlier in the program) and "Per le porte del tormento passan l'anime" showed that this fusion of voices was no accident. The encore too, featured a gorgeous duet: "Pur ti miro, pur ti godo" from Monteverdi's L'Incorinazione di Poppea, a perfect, intimate end to an extraordinary afternoon.

Happy Birthday, Johann Sebastian Bach!

Johann Sebastian Bach

Today is the 326th birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach, the greatest composer of the baroque era, and one of the most influential musicians to ever walk the Earth.

Bach composed complex, contrapuntal music, firmly rooted in music theory and tradition, anchored by a rock-solid belief in God. His vast catalogue of compositions includes cantatas, concertos, keyboard compositions and a veritable textbook of organ music. Along the way, he invented the cello suite and wrote the Passions of St. Matthew and St. John, among the most powerful religious music ever written.

And four of his kids grew up to be famous composers.

For some listeners, Bach's mathematically perfect works suggest a divine, ideal form, with carefully constructed spires of counterpoint rising toward Heaven. For others, the precision of Bach can be used to define the triumph of man's reason over superstition. So in other words, the genius of Bach can be used to defend almost any argument.

Luckily, Bach lovers have many options to explore the master's music on disc and mp3, from esoteric high-end performances to giant budget box sets that offer a complete overview of Bach's genius.

Here's a quick look at the best Bach boxes.

Various Artists: Complete Bach Edition (Brilliant Classics, 155 CDs)
This authoritative compilation features the entire Bach ouevre, recorded in high digital quality. These performances do not feature the flashy, big label stars, but the musicians and singers range from adequate to exceptional. Mostly recorded in Holland and Belgium, this massive set will provide two solid weeks of musical education, and that's just at one sitting. Whew.

Ton Koopman, Organ: Complete Organ Works (Warner Brothers Classics/Das Alte Werk 16 CDs)
An exhaustive survey of Bach's works for organ. This reissue features the Dutch organist Ton Koopman, an organist and conductor who also recorded the complete cantatas for Erato. Koopman plays on eight different organs in Holland and Germany. Two of them (the organs in Freiburg and Hamburg) were played on by Bach himself. Other organists that are worth checking out include Simon Preston and the legendary, blind Helmut Walcha.

Concentius Musicus Wein cond. Nikolaus Harnoncourt;
Leonhardt Consort cond. Gustav Leonhardt:
Complete Cantatas (Warner Brothers Classics, 60 CDs)
Nikolaus Harnoncourt is a former cellist who rose to fame by conducting Bach. (Incidentally, he's also a count, and a descendant of Holy Roman Emperors.) He's also a gifted conductor who built an international recording career on the back of these recordings. This was the first complete cycle of Bach cantatas ever recorded and is a milestone in the catalogue of Bach works.

English Baroque Soloists cond. John Eliot Gardiner: Sacred Choral Works and Cantatas (DG Archiv, 22 CDs)
This one's been mentioned before. Recently reissued, this set combines all of Gardiner's stellar recordings of the major Bach choral works: the two Passions, the Mass in B Minor and the oratorios, alongside the first few discs in his cycle of Bach cantatas before the conductor left DG and started his own record label. Crisply played performances in sterling sound.

Glenn Gould, Piano: Glenn Gould Plays Bach (Sony, 6 CDs)
When the 22-year old Glenn Gould recorded his 1955 run-through of the Goldberg Variations, he unknowingly made the first runaway classical hit of the LP era. He also put the pieces on the map as essential repertory for pianists.

Historical performance: Glenn Gould plays Bach's Third Partita for Piano.

Historical importance aside, the idiosyncratic (OK, downright weird) Canadian pianist had a unique interpretative touch. There are other exceptional Goldbergs in the catalogue, but none are as famous. This newly issued set includes Gould playing the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Inventions, Toccatas and Partitas. Not complete, but essential.

Concert Review: Child Is Father...to the Symphony

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at TullyScope.

Sir Roger Norrington.

Johann Sebastian Bach had twenty children, if you don't count P.D.Q. Bach. Ten of them survived into adulthood. Of them, four of his sons grew up to be famous composers. Wednesday evening's concert at Alice Tully Hall offered argument for the reappraisal of Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach, whose work serves as an important bridge between the music of his father and the classical style as developed by Haydn and Mozart in the latter half of the 18th century.

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is an acclaimed period performance ensemble from the United Kingdom, under the direction of Sir Roger Norrington. Sir Roger is now 77, and has had a long career leading period performance ensembles. Although he has met with wide criticism for his dry-toned, unromantic accounts of Beethoven, Wagner and even Mahler, these four symphonies and two concertos were ideally suited to his plain-spoken approach. They were played by the small orchestra (about two dozen, all told) with melodic drive and energy throughout.

The highlight of the performance was the C Major harpsichord concerto. It is difficult to play with lyricism on the harpsichord, but soloist Steven Devine overcame the limitations of that instrument. His cadenzas were played with beauty and skill, an impressive blend of dexterity and phrasing as he made the harpsichord sing.

C.P.E. Bach. Image © Naxos.

The same could not be said for the A Major cello concerto, with Richard Lester playing the solo part. Mr. Lester played with passion but hit some number of wrong notes in the first movement. Although he settled in and played the next two movements with singing tone and skilled bow-work, the errant opening undermined the whole performance.

When Haydn referred to Bach as the "father of us all", he was referring not to Johann Sebastianm but to C.P.E. Bach. This was proved by the four string symphonies on this program, which were written for a patron (Baron Gottfired von Swieten) who wanted Bach to push the envelope of instrumental writing farther than it had ever been pushed before. Using only strings and harpsichord, the younger Bach creates a riot of emotional color in the course of three movements each. Impressive, since each symphony is an average of just ten minutes in length.

Opera Review: No Bunnies, Just Talent

Les Arts Florissants at Alice Tully Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Less is more: Les Arts Florissants music director William Christie.

As part of their 2010 BAM appearance, Les Arts Florissants staged Henry Purcell's The Fairy Queen with elaborate costumes, sets, and bunny suits. For 2011, the French period ensemble offered two performances at Alice Tully Hall, as part of the TullyScope Festival designed to highlight the versatility of Lincoln Center's mid-sized concert hall.

Opera Review: Le Magnifique Lives Up to its Name

Karim Sulayman and Jeffrey Thompson
in the preview performance of La Magnifique.
Photo by Louis Forget © 2011 Opera Lafayette 

On Wednesday night, Washington D.C.'s acclaimed Opera Lafayette company visited the Rose Theater, the off-campus Lincoln Center venue used primarily for jazz. The occasion: the second modern performance of La Magnifique, an important (yet obscure) opera-comique from obscure (yet important) composer André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry.


Based on a story from Bocaccio's Decameron, La Magnifique is the tale of two men's return from being sold into slavery--and the title character's attempt to win the hand of Clémentine away from the dastardly fellows who did the deed. The work has never been performed in North America before this week, which is a shame since Grétry is a "missing link" between the rococo music of Rameau and Lully and the modern, operatic reforms of Gluck and Mozart.

The vocal writing in this work is extraordinary, with melodious arias written in the galant 18th century French style. But the way forward is in Grètry's ensembles, which provide a blueprint for what Mozart was to do in Idomeneo and Le Nozze di Figaro. As the characters assemble and attempt to gain understanding of what has occured, they engage in whizzing vocal pyrotechnics, arpeggiating up and down the scale over the orchestra as the act builds to its climax.

The performance featured an enthusiastic cast, led by the resonant bass Emiliano Gonzales Toro in the title role. As the heroine Clémentine, soprano Elizabeth Calleo displayed a pleasing soprano with an unusual, woody timbre. She sounded best in the ensembles, paired with mezzo Marguerite Krull or the paired villains, played by Jeffrey Thompson and Karim Sulayman. Mr. Sulayman's comic mugging and dance-based performance made Fabio the most memorable character in the opera.

Conductor Ryan Brown led a simple staging, on a bare stage in front of the orchestra. The excellent young cast did the work in modern evening dress. There is no chorus, and there are no recitatives. An English-language narration (by bass Randall Scarlata, who doubled in the role of Horace) explained the plot of the opera as it went along, stopping so the characters can react with arias and ensembles. He was working from a new version of the text, by Nick Olcott.

Can I Get a "Hallelujah"?

Georg Frideric Handel. Image © PortraitWeb.

With the start of Hannukah tonight, it's officially the holiday season here in New York City. And that means, no matter where you turn in our fair metropolis, some choral group or orchestra is gearing up to perform the 'Messiah', Georg Friedrich Handel's oratorio turned holiday favorite. Not that that has anything to do with the Festival of Lights, it's just that this year the holiday schedule is really weird.

Messiah was written in 1741 and received its premiere in Dublin, Ireland in 1742. It was the subject of major revisions by Handel, and did not reach its final form until it was performed in 1754 at a benefit for the Foundlings' Hospital in London.

This is Handel's most popular and lasting work. In the context of his long career, Messiah is one of a number of oratorios written by Handel after his Italian operas stopped being popular. The text is drawn almost entirely from the King James Bible.

The work was an instant success after its first London performance, when the 'Hallelujah' Chorus moved the monarch, King George II, to stand up during its performance. When the King stood, the entire audience stood too, and this started a tradition of standing during this chorus that has gone on for over 250 years.

OK. Now that you know the history, here's five recommended New York performances of Messiah. Chronological order:

Dec. 7: St. Thomas' Choir: Messiah
The most famous church choir in New York presents its annual performance of the Messiah. Tickets are available here.

Dec. 12-13: Trinity Church: Messiah
Trinity Church dates from 1697, making it older than Handel's Messiah. Their crack choir sings holiday music by that newfangled young punk Handel. Tickets available here.

Dec. 14-18: New York Philharmonic: Messiah
Bernard Labadie conducts the holiday classic to Avery Fisher Hall. No singing along for this one, but a chance to hear New York's finest orchestra play choral music, something that they're pretty good at. Featuring the New York Choral Artists.
Tickets available here.

Dec. 20: Oratorio Society of New York: Messiah
This Gotham choir has been singing the Lord's praises since 1874. A holiday tradition, presented in the friendly white-and-gold confines of Carnegie Hall. And considering that the Dec. 16 holiday concert featuring the Orchestra of St. Luke's and Deborah Voigt has been cancelled, this is looking like a pretty good option.
Tickets available here.

Dec. 21: National Chorale: Annual Messiah Sing-In
For those of you aching to lift your voice in song, the National Chorale presents its annual holiday performance of the Handel oratorio at Avery Fisher Hall. Scores are provided--it's up to you to be on key.
Tickets available here,

Opera Review: The Other Magic Garden: Partenope

The garden scene from Partenope. Photo © 2010 New York City Opera

The City Opera closed out its spring season with a strong revival of Handel's Partenope. Baroque opera has been a forte at this house for some time now, and Tuesday night's performance gave listeners the chance to discover some exciting new singers in this under-performed genre. This revival was notable for a strong young cast, and the expert period performance leadershop of Scottish conductor Christian Curnyn in the pit.

Partenope is one of Handel's early baroque works. It presents, in comic fashion, the struggles of the city of Venice, its queen (the title character) and the attempts of three men to woo her. It is remarkable for having two difficult parts originally written for castrato singers. Today, opera houses use countertenors, but casting the work still presents difficulties in finding two countertenors who can navigate Handel's heights.


Cyndia Sweden gave a bright, sparkling performance in the title role, adroitly juggling men in between as coloratura runs. Her rivals, Arsace, Armindo, and Emilio were played by three fine young singers. Iestyn Davies was Arsace, the cad who spurns his original lover Rosmira for Partenope's hand. This is the more challenging of the two roles and Davies rose to the occasion with a flawless high range and command of the difficult vocal leaps required in Handel's da capo passages.

Anthony Roth Costanzo sang with pathos and delicate beauty as Armindo, the "nice guy" who eventually wins the girl. Tenor Nicholas Coppolo is a rapidly rising star in 18th century repertory. He brought a welcome charge of sexual energy to the proceedings as Emilio, and some fine singing in his Act II aria. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Houtzel switched genders with ease as Rosmira, the origanal lover of Arsace who spends most of the opera in drag. Finally, baritone Daniel Mobbs sang well as the servant Ormonte, although his character does not have an aria to sing.





Watch a trailer for Partenope here.