TV REVIEW : ‘Sorceress’: Te Kanawa Sings, Others Dance

Apart from gorgeous singing, “The Sorceress: Kiri Te Kanawa” (tonight at 8 p.m. on KVCR-TV Channel 24 and at 9 p.m. on KCET-TV Channel 28; and on Oct. 29 at 8:30 p.m. on KPBS-TV Channel 15) has to be one of the silliest hothouse efforts ever to promote Te Kanawa, Handel or classical music in general.

Director Barbara Willis Sweete has stitched together various arias and instrumental music from six Handel operas. She inverts the plot of his “Alcina” to make the titular character a heroine instead of a villain. Alcina (Te Kanawa) woos the knight Ruggiero, wins him, loses him, regains him at the end.

But Te Kanawa is the only singer. Ruggiero (the sullenly handsome Andrew Kelley) and his betrothed, Bradamante (the swan-necked Jeannette Zingg) are dancers, as are most of the rest of the cast, save a few elderly roues and a dwarf sporting a frozen-yogurt wig.

With choreography credited to Ed Wubbe and Zingg, the dancers, the Scapino Ballet of Rotterdam and the Opera Atelier of Toronto, divide into two factions.

One consists of Baroque-period courtiers, wearing heeled shoes and heavy, formal costumes. They’re in white and execute restrained glides, hops and elegant port de bras. The other is a ballet troupe in pointe shoes or slippers, skin-revealing cut-away costumes, capes and cat masks. They’re in black and claw, and writhe and spring in airy jumps.

They also strip Ruggiero to his bare chest for Alcina’s delectation, as she sings how his “eyes express your love.” Ah, right.

Te Kanawa acts all this nonsense with touching conviction, and sings with creamy, lustrous vocalism, adding agile and tasteful embellishments in the repeats of the arias.

Despite their bizarre placement in a huge cage-like structure beneath Alcina’s feet, the Academy of Ancient Music, led by Christopher Hogwood, provides sprightly and stylish musical support.

Kelley exudes erotic appeal as the passive hero sought by the two women. Zingg manages a straight face in the minimal, ungrateful role of Bradamante. Soft porn may best be left to the appropriate professionals, however.

Filling out the hourlong broadcast slot is James Kudelka’s version of the “Romeo and Juliet” Bedroom Scene, danced barefoot and in their underwear by Peggy Baker and Sylvain Lafortune.