Monumentalised by the Victorians as Handel’s Largo, Ombra mai fu is the opening number in his opera Serse, and for all its ironic touches — the object of Xerxes’ veneration is a plane tree — has to be delivered solemnly, as it was here by Franco Fagioli. It seemed early in the evening for a showstopper, but so ravishing was the singing that it could hardly go unacknowledged.
The superstar countertenor had plenty of opportunity elsewhere to display his astonishing technique, ranging through three octaves, with a voluptuous tone and variety of register that enabled him to project the volatility of the narcissistic King Xerxes’ temperament.
Fagioli was supported by a stellar cast, including Vivica Genaux as Arsamene, Delphine Galou as Amastre and Francesca Aspromonte as Atalanta. Inga Kalna was properly formidable as Romilda even if some of the humour of the part went missing. Biagio Pizzuti (Elviro) splendidly hammed up his disguise as a flower seller, while Andreas Wolf was a sturdy Ariodate. Maxim Emelyanychev, directing Il Pomo d’Oro from the harpsichord, whisked the action along.
Unlike the last Pomo d’Oro performance I heard at the Barbican, this one had the advantage of an imaginatively executed semi-staging, which both brought it to life and enabled us to follow one of Handel’s more tortuous plots.
