Handel: Olinto, pastore arcade (Oh! Come chiare e belle) HWV 143

The Accademia degli Arcadi - that thought-provoking and innovative literary circle set up by a group of poets, composers, aristocrats and churchmen, which championed a return to classical (and pastoral) ideals and one of whose keenest members was the Marquis Francesco Maria Ruspoli, Handel's patron in Rome - forms the aesthetic background for this sixth and penultimate release in the series of Italian cantatas by the Saxon composer which Fabio Bonizzoni and La Risonanza are making for Glossa. In an engrossing essay written by Carlo Vitali, which benefits from the counsels of Michael Talbot, the reader is introduced to the social and political references contained within the pastoral texts of Olinto, pastore arcade, Duello amoroso and Alpestre monte, the three Handel cantatas which make up this CD. Bonizzoni turns again to three of his regular singers as well as counting upon the services of his exceptional first violinist, the young Swiss Leila Schayegh, an up-and-coming player whose talent is undisputed. The spring of 2010 is anticipated as seeing the conclusion of this Handel collection, the grand finale being the marvellous cantata Apollo e Dafne. Volume five is a Gramophone Critics Choice 2009.

For the second Glossa Portrait release the spotlight falls upon the soprano Roberta Invernizzi. It was the inspired choice of Fabio Bonizzoni to involve the Milanese singer in his series of Le Cantate Italiane di Handel, and Invernizzi appeared on no less than five of the seven discs in that greatly-admired series. This 2-disc Portrait draws on those recordings to highlight the delicious characterisations of Invernizzi in Handel’s vivid and visceral portrayals of nymphs and goddesses such as Diana, Cloris, Amarilis, Lidia and Fili, Arcadian characters one and all but nonetheless human in personality.

Roberta Invernizzi is gifted with an ability to master the technical, expressive and temperamental challenges set by Baroque composers such as Vivaldi, Monteverdi and Alessandro Scarlatti and she has also added a scintillating theatrical verve to many of the incursions into Neapolitan opera buffa in the company of Antonio Florio.