Alcina was the seventh biennial production of the Cambridge Handel Opera Group, given four staged performances conducted by Andrew Jones. He is a committed and experienced Handelian, and he directed the proceedings confidently; he obtained remarkably assured playing from an orchestra of undergraduates, who showed a greater understanding of the proper style than many professional ensembles I have heard. The production by Richard Gregson tackled the complex scenic problems of this opera–such as the transformation scenes, and what you do with the animals–with imagination, and the action moved from place to place with a minimum of interruption. The court scene at the beginning was beautifully dressed and staged, with well-integrated ballets, while the transformation scenes were impressively accompanied by flashing lights and a suitably noisy application of thunder ...
The cast was led by Ann Mackay as Alcina; she is an experienced Handel singer, and gave full power to the many great moments in this wonderful part: ‘Ah, mio cor’ in Act 2 was delivered very passionately...‘Mi restano le lagrime’ in Act 3 was perfect...
Kay Jordan as Morgana was a delight–her acting was just right, the voice and words well projected, and her ‘Tornami a vagheggiar’ at the end of Act 1 was a virtuosic tour de force which brought the house down. Catherine Griffiths as Ruggiero had to deal with the most troublesome problem facing a woman singing a castrato part, how to act and look like a man...her artistry as a singer was demonstrated in the exquisite ornamentation she brought to ‘Mi lusinga il dolce affetto’ in Act 2. Christine Botes as Bradamante acted well and sang her recitatives clearly and dramatically; her big vengeance aria, ‘Vorrei vendicarmi’ in Act 2, went splendidly, with the fioriture superbly controlled.
...the boy Oberto was most delightfully done by Helen Swift: she had a very boyish appearance and sound, and an acting style to match.
The choreography of the ballets was excellently done, and even where you feel that Handel had put just one too many dances in his score it did not drag. The end of Act 2 was splendidly dramatic, with a curious but effective use of lighting to make the dancers fluorescent...
Opera magazine, May 1997
Andrew Jones and his merry Handelian band have been giving us entertaining and evocative productions of Handel operas every two years since the Tercentenary...This year the chosen work was Alcina, without a doubt the most ambitious so far...
The opera must stand or fall on the roles of the sorceress Alcina, and her paramour Ruggiero. Alcina was sung by Ann Mackay with great dramatic intensity. She has a lovely voice, at times soft and coaxing, at others level and clarion-like, but used with great taste and assurance to explore the many facets of Alcina’s character...Her lover Ruggiero was sung by Catherine Griffiths who was entirely convincing as the knight who relearns the difference between sensual illusion and rational reality. She added several little ‘mannish’ mannerisms, some with a bit of comic business, but when Ruggiero is to move the audience as in the beautiful “Verdi prati”, Griffiths rose to the occasion. Another pleasant surprise was Kay Jordan in the role of Alcina’s more human sister Morgana. She tormented her lover with convincing expertise and sang the famous aria which Sutherland transferred to her own part in Act 1 with perfect tone and gorgeous decoration...This was a major...undertaking for the Cambridge group, and they must be congratulated on their success. I felt the evening spoke better for the work than the productions at either Spitalfields in 1985 or the earlier Handel Opera Society versions.
London Handel Festival Newsletter, May 1997
