Lotario

"The headline news is that this is the only current recording of Lotario on CD; it's almost complete, with one short scene omitted, and it's well worth obtaining ... The plot is as complicated as that of any Handel opera ... I've mentioned the high quality of the accompaniment ... Laurence Cummings is an accomplished Handel director and that shows to great advantage here ... Inevitably with a live recording there is a certain amount of stage noise ... but there is not too much of it, and it is worth tolerating for the quality of the performance ... Lotario is never going to be Handel's best-known opera but ... it comes over well in the new recording".

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"This warts-and-all performance has a persuasive dramatic heart - due in large part to Laurence Cummings's expert direction of the excellent orchestra, which uses a satisfying variety of expressive rhetorical tools and aptly shaded textures. The beleaguered Adelaide is sung by Marie Lys with disciplined agility and élan ... Sophie Rennert's firmly focused legato singing is well suited to Lotario ... Notwithstanding a few imperfections, this is a convincing argument that Lotario is not merely packed with excellent music but can be gripping theatre".