GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL

 

Handel In Italy - Solo Cantatas

 

Notte placida e cheta, HWV142 (1707)

Un’ alma innamorata, HWV173 (1707)

Figlio d’alte speranze, HWV113 (1706)

Agrippina condotta a morire, HWV110 (1709)

Concerto a Quattro in D major

 

Emma Kirkby - soprano

 

London Baroque

 

During his years in Italy (1706-1710), it is believed that Handel may have written as many as 150 cantatas including a number of so-called cantate con stromenti for one or more solo voices plus additional instruments. The four cantatas on this disc feature the standard combination for such works: soprano, two violins and basso continuo. Thematically, they can be grouped in pairs: Notte placida e cheta (Calm and Placid Night) and Un’ alma innamorata (A Soul in Love) tell of unhappy love and contain elements from Classical mythology against a pastoral backdrop. By contrast, Figlio d’alte speranze (Son of High Hopes) and Agrippina condotta a morire (Agrippina Led to Her Death) tell tales of the use and abuse of power.

 

This exciting programme is presented by Emma Kirkby and London Baroque, household names in the sphere of ‘early music’ and beyond, and certainly no new-comers to the works of Handel.

 

BIS SACD BISSACD1695