It is strange to compare and contrast these two Handel recitals. On the one hand we have the undisputedly brilliant Baroque opera star Karina Gauvin producing a disc crammed full of diverse material; on the other hand we have Christine Schäfer, ill at ease in Handel’s most taxing fast passages, and confining herself to arias from only one opera. The odds would seem to be stacked in Gauvin’s favour but, to me at least, she sounds more at home singing operatic repertoire rather than the oratorio fare chosen here. One wonders why she bothered to include “Lascia ch’io pianga” in an otherwise entirely English programme; it sticks out like a sore thumb (and Tempo Rubato’s over-elaboration of the simple sarabande grates on the nerves). The decision to transpose tenor arias “Where’er you walk” and “Waft her angels” is not only clichéd but also baffling. Including a couple of Messiah arias is not inspired programming, either. Perhaps these choices would be fine if the performances were routinely enjoyable, but much of this disc is mannered (for example the exaggeratedly slow middle part of “Rejoice greatly”) and strident, and Tempo Rubato’s playing lacks poetry. A few moments are better (Iole’s impassioned “Ah! Think what ills” from Hercules) but most extracts lack the musical atmosphere and expressive personality that they deserve (for instance, “Sweet bird” is clumpy and charmless and its middle section lacks sufficient enchantment).

Gauvin’s disc is ample evidence that great Handel singers don’t necessarily always make great Handel recordings, whereas Schäfer conveys a rewarding experience of the composer’s music: she sings eight arias from Alcina with audible integrity, emotional feeling and dramatic intelligence. Her voice isn’t always ideally elegant in the most difficult coloratura (things get a bit stretched and pinched in “Ombre pallide”) but she successfully communicates Alcina’s personality and predicaments. The slow interpretation of “Ah! Mio cor!” is sincerely moving; taken at about half the speed of that adopted by Alan Curtis on his recent complete Alcina, this is most likely at the “wrong” tempo but it effectively communicates to the listener, and works well for Schäfer’s emotionally bare singing. The Berlin Baroque Soloists provide unfussy and tasteful accompaniments and orchestral interludes.