Handel’s Partenope is one of those inexplicable rarities. A tuneful, light romance, it has everything that one could want from a Baroque opera – love, intrigue, cross-dressing… Back in Handel’s time, however, the opera claque had it in for the piece. “Senesino put me in a sweat in telling me that Parthenope was likely to be on the stage, for it is the very worst book (excepting one) that I ever read in my whole life,” sniped the rival Academy’s purse-lipped Italian agent Owen Swiny. Poppycock, said Edward J Dent who described it in 1959 as “perhaps the best libretto that Handel had ever set,”likening it to Shakespeare no less. As always, the truth lies somewhere in-between. A tale of love, jealousy and betrayal, the plot revolves around the un-historical titular Queen of what would become Naples and her three suitors. Arsace, Prince of Corinth is the front runner, but when Rosmira, his former betrothed arrives disguised as a knight, it throws the field wide open. Arsace is forced to dissemble rather than admit his falsehood, and Partenope’s affections are diverted towards Armindo, the timid Prince of Rhodes. After Arsace forces Rosmira to reveal her identity… Continue reading Get unlimited…

★★★★☆ Richard Gill opens medieval windows on the sacred and profane. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

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★★★★½ Robertson delivers a tale well told, whichever way you look at it. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in