This is a fine alternative to Christopher Hogwood’s period performance on L’Oiseau-Lyre, and will be welcomed heartily by fans of Marilyn Horne. Orlando is a great role, filled with arias and scenes acrobatic, tender, and exclamatory (he goes mad in Act 2 and stays that way for much of Act 3). In l985, when this present set was taped live at Venice’s La Fenice, Marilyn Horne was still in control of her awesome powers–her breath control, fluidity, big, round tones, impeccable diction, and sheer intelligence still astound after all these years. And she’s certainly superior to the nasty-sounding, if dramatic, James Bowman for Hogwood. Lella Cuberli’s Angelica is fine but is outclassed by Arleen Auger; however, I prefer Jeffrey Gall’s countertenor Medoro to Catherine Robbins’ girly one (both for Hogwood again).

Teseo (HWV 9) is an opera seria with music by George Frideric Handel, the only Handel opera that is in five acts. The Italian-language libretto was by Nicola Francesco Haym, after Philippe Quinault's Thésée. It was Handel's third London opera, intended to follow the success of Rinaldo after the unpopular Il pastor fido. First performed on 10 January 1713,Teseo featured "magical" effects such as flying dragons, transformation scenes and apparitions and had a cast of notable Italian opera singers. It was a success with London audiences, receiving thirteen performances even though the stage machinery for the "magical" effects broke down, and would have received more performances had not one of the theatre's managers run away with the box office receipts.

Director Peter Sellars helms this provocative adaptation of George Frideric Handel’s opera “Giulio Cesare,” sung in the original Italian by soprano Susan Larson (who plays Cleopatra) and countertenor Jeffrey Gall (in the role of Julius Caesar) but set in a very different locale: a futuristic Middle East. Sellars personally wrote the English subtitles included in this version to match the tone he intended for his vision.