George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759), Arias for Durastanti (from the operas "Agrippina", "Radamisto", "Muzio Scevola", "Ottone", "Giulio Cesare" and "Arianna"). Performed by Lorraine Hunt[-Lieberson], mezzo-soprano, and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, San Francisco, directed by Nicholas McGegan.

Recorded in October, 1991, by Skywalker Sound, Nicasio, California.

Released as Harmonia Mundi HMU 907056 and also available as part of the set HMX 2907171.74 (4 Cds).

Margherita Durastanti had a very long and successful career which took her, first, to almost all of the cultural centres in what we today call "Italy" before she moved to the royal court at Dresden in Saxony and finally to London. Handel appears to have met her for the first time in 1707 or 1708 in Rome, engaging her a couple of years later for "Agrippina" in Venice and then gaining her services some ten years later for his opera company in London. Although she was disrespectfully known as "the elephant" because of her features and the masculine coarseness of her appearance, she was obviously a great singer, and Handel appears to have enjoyed writing some of his finest roles for her.

Lorraine Hunt (who has, since this recording was made, added "Lieberson" to her surname) was a very fine choice to portray Durastanti - not because of anything elephantine, I hasten to add, but because she has such a smooth, silky mezzosoprano voice. Ms Hunt used to play the viola, and better critics than I will ever be have noted that her singing often seems to reflect string playing. This can be heard quite clearly on this CD, which is clearly the best of all the four "Arias for ..." series made by the Philharmonia Baroque. Personally, I have been quite captivated, in particular by the arias originally for the character "Sesto" or Sextus in "Giulio Cesare": Ms Hunt's timbre and her expressivity are of the very first order, as is her enunciation, and her performance here need fear no comparison with the competition (e. g. Marjana Lipovsek on the Harnoncourt "Giulio Cesare" highlights recording). The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, too, had been maturing over the years since Nic McGegan

took over as conductor and produces here a gorgeous sound in no way inferior to the best European period-instrument orchestras.

My only query concerning this beautiful disc would be why Ms Hunt was obviously not positioned centre-stage; her voice comes from a point quite far to the right of the stage, which, indeed, allows a good orchestral panorama but at the same time seems to rob her voice of a little of its bloom; but perhaps that is being pernickety.

Note 1 Aug 2006: Sadly, a few days after writing this review I read in the online version of "Gramophone Magazine" that Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson had died just a few days before, after a long period of illness. She will be sorely missed!

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 (

), 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.