Handel Xerxes ENO

"Alice Coote’s Xerxes was superbly sung, covering the full range from the short lyric arias through the virtuoso bluff and bluster to the intense pain of the extended da capo arias. Coote has a very personal way with Handel and her performance was a very individual one. Musically she took her time over some things, but showed herself equally capable of bravura passagework. Similarly, in terms of character, she projected Xerxes’ changeability quite brilliantly. Her conception of Xerxes might be rather more flippant than some, but she certainly brought out the idea that living with him was very much living on the edge."

Read the full review here by Robert Hugill in  Opera Today

Elgar, Elder, Hallé, Alice Coote Beethoven Prom 31

Elgar, Elder and the Hallé: an ideal combination.. Alice Coote sang  Elgar Sea Pictures at BBC Prom 3: the stuff of dreams. Coote's rich mezzo brings out the sensual undercurrents in the songs, suggesting dark mysteries hidden beneath the depths. "Sea-sound, like violins, To slumber woos and wins, I murmur my soft slumber-song, my slumber song Leave woes, and wails, and sins."  The texts are uneven, but Coote makes them feel natural and sincere. "Thy lips are like a sunset's glow, Thy smile is like a morning sky, Yet leave me, leave me, let me go And see the land where corals lie." When Coote sings "Thy lips", her lips curve round the words: something personal , almost dangerous here, yet exquisitely beautiful. How sensuously Elgar orchestrates these songs! Soloists dance along the singer's line, reaffirming her words. There have been many great Elgar Sea Pictures in the past, but Coote and Elder are right up in the top of the league. If this enters the discography, it will be a top pick.

Please read Claire Seymour's review of Prom 31 Berlioz, Elgar, Helen Grime and Beethoven Symphony no 3 HERE in Opera Today. I also liked Elder's lucid approach to the Eroica, which flowed with freedom and sparkle.