Ravishing recording of Handel's Rodelinda

Standout performances from soloists Simone Kermes and Marijana Mijanović Curtis bring Handel's 'happy' opera Rodelinda to a rousing finale

Composer: Handel
Repertoire: Rodelinda 
Artists: Soloists; Il Complesso Barocco/Alan Curtis
Rating:  4/5 
Genre: Opera
Label: Archiv 477 5391

As novelist Donna Leon points out in the booklet, Rodelinda is that rare thing, an opera about happy married love. Rodelinda resists the advances of Grimoaldo and is reunited with her husband, whose throne Grimoaldo has usurped and who is believed dead. One of the highlights is a farewell duet, ravishingly sung by Simone Kermes and Marijana Mijanović Curtis conducts a splendid performance, perhaps over-decorated in places, which could convert Commissario Brunetti or even Inspector Morse to Baroque opera.