Joyce DiDonato sings the title-role on Alan Curtis’s recording of Handel’s Scottish opera, with Marie-Nicole Lemieux as the dastardly Polinesso and Karina Gauvin as the woman they both love.
REVIEW:
in Alan Curtis's scrupulously detailed performance, Joyce diDonato's gleaming legato and coloratura are upstaged by the elegance of Karina Gauvin's Ginevra. While diDonato offers recklessly inventive da capo decorations, Gauvin favours measured pathos. For a complex and moving Ginevra, this is the Ariodante to have.
– BBC Music Magazine
Ariodante is sung by the wonderful Joyce DiDonato. "Con l'ali di constanza" is taken at quite a lick: fair enough, as the reference is to Cupid's wings. In "Scherz, infida", with its mournful bassoon, DiDonato has the full measure of Ariodante's despair. There are no weaknesses in the rest of the cast. Alan Curtis directs with his customary stylishness.
