Handel Partenope comic opera to a libretto by an unknown author from a libretto originally written by Silvio Stampiglia. Directed 2008 by Francisco Negrin at Det Kongelige Teater (The Royal Danish Theater). Stars Inger Dam-Jensen (Partenope), Andreas Scholl (Arsace), Tuva Semmingsen (Rosmira), Christophe Dumaux (Armindo), Bo Kristian Jensen (Ermilio), and Palle Knudsen (Ormonte). Lars Ulrich Mortensen conducts the Concerto Copenhagen. Directed for TV by Peter Borgwardt. Sung in Italian. Released 2014, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
Partenope is not mentioned in my Grove Book of Operas, and this is the only Partenope video ever released. It seems the show ran maybe 20 time during Handel life and was then forgotten for centuries. The performance at the Danish opera was plagued by singers who fell ill, and this somewhat disjointed video had to be pieced together from a number of performances. But never mind. This is a comic comic work full of cross-dressing, mistaken identities, and girls in trousers. There's a scene where a woman disguised is a man gets in a pickle. She is challenged to a duel—where the rules call for the combatants to strip to the waist! The show apparently has great music, decent singers, and a fine old-instrument chamber orchestra. This title came out in 2009 in DVD. Then Handel fans who discussed it as Amazon critics generally liked it. The Blu-ray format ought to improve this, so welcome aboard.