Il Sant' Alessio

Landi's 'Il Sant Alessio' is one of those rarely performed and almost forgotten operas that shouldn't really be rarely performed or forgotten.

While maybe not among the all-time greats, it is a clever and moving work (almost reminiscent of a dramatic oratorio) and contains some incandescently glorious music. This is a marvel of a production with very little to criticise, visually, dramatically and musically excellent, often phenomenal, and shows complete respect to the opera.

It's a striking production visually. The prominent use of candle-light gives an authenticity and gives everything a luminous quality. The wooden sets, even when simple and somewhat bare, still give off an effectively austere atmosphere, and the scenic effects help maintain the interest. A wonderfully meticulous medieval setting is evoked throughout and further advantaged by the luxuriously refined and colourfully simple costumes.

The DVD quality is truly impressive. Loved the varied and dynamic video directing, that in no way undermined the quality of the crucial parts, and how clear and focused the picture quality was considering the pitfalls of trying to do so when working with a production with a lot of candle-light but also a lot of darkness. The sound is also very good.

Stage directing is stylised, and reminiscent of the postures and gestures adopted in oil paintings and statues, but the drama is still clear, never static and always emotionally impacting, not easy to do when directing an early music opera.

Musically, this production of 'Il Sant Alessio' is near-perfect. The orchestra play with energy, emotional power and nuances, as well as a clear grasp of the period style and refinement. The boys choir sound positively angelic and the chorus make the most of their wonderful music, some of the most beautiful in the whole work. William Christie's conducting is evocative, sympathetic and alert, giving the score both elegance and bawdiness.

Philippe Jaroussky is an incredibly powerful and poignant Alessio, his counter-tenor voice as ever one of the most sublime of any counter-tenor, not just a beautiful tone but it also has depth, makes one feel and enviously agile in the Colouratura. Max Emanuel Cencic also is remarkable in a difficult role as a counter-tenor in a female role, singing with sensitive phrasing and rich tone and every bit as compelling an actor as Jaroussky. Alain Buet is an effective Eufemiano, while Terry Wey brings intensity and sincerity to the prologue and epilogue in a narrative role and Pascal Bertin's voice is adeptly honey-toned.

Xavier Sabata sings beautifully too if in want of more consonants and Jean-Paul Bonnevalle's singing shows a wonderful richness and wide range. Damien Guillon and Jóse Lemos are entertaining as the servants, the exaggerated slides not being too much of an annoyance instead adding to the comic effect. Only Ryland Angel's throaty Adastro and Luigi Di Donato's dramatically sinister but vocally underpowered (his lack of resonance in the low notes being somewhat of a big problem for a role with such a low Tessitura) Demon disappoint somewhat.

All in all, really marvellous. 9/10 Bethany Cox