Handel: Salve Regina - Millenium Orchestra with Julie Roset, dir. Alarcón

Handel: Salva Regina

This album takes its title from the antiphon for soprano and orchestra by G. F. Handel, HWV 241. Featured in this work and others by Handel is the young soprano Julie Roset.

The liner notes provide more detail about the work, which would have been composed in Handel’s time in Italy:

An antiphon to the Virgin commissioned by Cardinal Colonna, the Salve Reginawas probably first performed in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Montesanto, at that time the home of the contemplative Carmelite Order. The music is organised as three contrasting parts: the first develops in G minor and then in C minor, these keys being well suited to the supplicant character of the prayer. The second part is more cheerful in character and in the major: An unusual organ solo underlines the suppliant’s fervent hope: “illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte!”The last part returns to the minor mode and to humility. The surprise here lies in the music’s concision, directly inspired by the text: O clemens, o pia, o dulcis virgo Maria. The prayer ends with one final imploration to the Virgin. There is no development, no learned counterpoint, but an expressive intensity that is achieved with a total economy of means. High art, indeed!

The album also includes a Gloria (dubious, without HWV number, discovered in 2001). The opening is a divine work that gives a singular limelight to the singer. The other major work is a motet for soprano and orchestra, Silete Venti, HWV 242.

The performances here from the Millenium (sic.) Orchestra under the baton of Leonardo García Alarcón are well done and are mixed well with the real star of the album, Ms. Roset. While by all accounts the artist is poised to be an operatic singer, her background in historical performance is assuredly strong. She has great control over her voice with dynamics which was a continual treat. I believe the acoustic used for the recording is very appropriate for what may have been more private performances; there is ample reverb but the long reverb of a church was not used and instead the recording was done in a concert hall in Namur; the choice allows us a front-row seat with the singer. (And the harp used in an aria from Esther, HWV 50.)

There are, of course, other recordings of the HWV 241 and 242. I auditioned the recordings with HWV 241 by Juila Lezhneva with Il Giardino Armonico (whose performances I often enjoy) and by Lucy Crowe and the English Concert (dir. Harry Bicket). The latter recording I thought was the better of the two, but neither soprano’s voice for me equaled the clarity and purity of Julie Roset’s. Joseph Crouch led the Academy of Ancient Music with Grace Davidson in 2018 recording of HWV 242. Alarcón’s interpretation felt less rushed; the presence of the orchestra with voice also comes across more naturally in this new recording. Both women are excellent singers, but again, Roset again is the one I most prefer.

This album overall was quite enjoyable. While the jury may still be out about the dubious recording, all three major works are among the best on record and the filler material on the recording was no less engaging.

I do hope this recording serves to catapult Ms. Roset’s career; I could not imagine she’d not be pleased with such as well-considered production. The inclusion as a last track of Tu del ciel ministro electo from Il Trionfo del Tempo, HWV 46a, should be the only track you’d need to certify the high production value of this recording and Roset’s amazing voice. I rarely articulate star ratings in my reviews, but this album is five-star material.