Yet another Handel opera, and not one of his finest. First performed in 1715, Amadigi di Gaula stands apart, in some respects, from much of his output. Its principal strengths lie in compactness and narrative clarity, which is doubtless the secret of its appeal for some. Handel was at his operatic best, however, when an element of theatrical discursiveness allowed him greater space to explore the subtle fluidity of human psychology.

The subject has much in common with that of Alcina, his greatest opera, written some 20 years later. The sorceress Melissa, besotted with the knight Amadigi, attempts to ruin his relationship with the virtuous Oriana by setting him against the unscrupulous Dardano, his rival for Oriana's aff ections. Comparison with Alcina, however, brings out Amadigi di Gaula's principal drawback: its protagonists, cramped by the hurtling plot, remain undeveloped ciphers, with the exception of Dardano, who is sexually drawn to both women and whose conflicted desires Handel registers in music of striking depth.

Though it fails to convince as musical drama, Amadigi di Gaula nevertheless forms an effective display piece for four fine singers, and this concert performance certainly provided us with some spectacular vocalism. The role of Melissa, in particular, requires a great diva, and proved to be something of a natural for the astonishing Simone Kermes, with her laser-like voice, mindblowing technique and thrillingly camp platform manner. Lawrence Zazzo's smugly noble Amadigi was sharply contrasted with Patricia Bardon's introverted, duplicitous Dardano. Klara Ek was the very elegant sounding Oriana. Conductor Christopher Hogwood pitched some of the earlier scenes at too low an emotional level, though the performance gradually caught fi re as it progressed. The playing, from the Academy of Ancient Music, was ravishing.