(ainda) Mehta's Handel

Parece que o The New York Times concorda comigo, no tocante à mestria do trabalho de Mehta, Ombra Cara!

«MORE than 25 years have passed since the release of Bejun Mehta’s celebrated debut album, made when Mr. Mehta was a boy soprano of nearly supernatural refinement and insight. Mr. Mehta, now 42, has turned up occasionally on record since his emergence as one of the most commanding, exhilarating countertenors of the modern era, in complete accounts of oratorios and operas by Handel, Mozart and Peter Eotvos. But with “Ombra Cara,” Harmonia Mundi finally showcases Mr. Mehta as the dynamic star that he is.

A stage animal whose New York City Opera “Orlando” and Met “Rodelinda” still inspire awe, Mr. Mehta here takes on a range of pyrotechnic showpieces and slow-burning ballads that demonstrate his fierce presence and broad expressive range. Familiar arias from those operas are included, along with worthy numbers from lesser-known works: the exultant “Sento la gioia” (from “Amadigi di Gaula”) and the intricate, flamboyant “Agitato da fiere tempeste” (from “Riccardo Primo”).

Mr. Mehta has exactly the right collaborators in the conductor René Jacobs and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. Listen to the agonized dissonances in the recitative preceding “Voi, che udite il mio lamento” (from “Agrippina”) or the biting strings and grotesquely snarling organ in an extended sequence from “Orlando,” and you comprehend precisely the emotional temperament of each scene before a word is sung. In “Per le porte del tormento,” the duet from “Sosarme” that closes the disc, Mr. Mehta is beautifully partnered by the soprano Rosemary Joshua.

On a bonus DVD included with the album Mr. Jacobs describes the qualities desirable in any would-be Handel sensation: “The singer has to be able to sing heroic and loud high notes from time to time, but he should above all be able to sing soft high notes.” Mr. Mehta achieves that distinction, and considerably more, throughout this absorbing, illuminating recital.»