Saturday afternoon, and Handel's Tolomeo. In a baroque opera, the composer is vital, and Handel is on good form here, with satisfying music following satisfying music for nearly three hours. Second to the composer are the performers, above all the singers. In the current recording, Ann Hallenberg, Karina Gauvin, Anna Bonitatibus, Pietro Spagnoli and Romina Basso are all well balanced as a team, and each is on top of his or her (challenging) vocal music. Ann Hallenberg has a lovely way with her "rrrrs" when she is angry. Il Complesso Barocco is on its usual fine form in the "orchestra pit".

Baroque music needs an informed, talented and inspirational music director, and Alan Curtis is just what is needed. No Furtwängler or Toscanini is needed in Handel (nor in Bach or Vivaldi). Music directors need to be people who impose order and balance and dictate the tempo giusto (which, in turn, is dictated by the music, the words and the context). Handel doesn't leave you troubled, perplexed, ecstatic or plunged in gloom; he just leaves you happy and satisfied.