Winter & Winter's first audio production with the Freitagsakademie and soprano Susanne Rydén presents Handel in Italy, combining his works with compositions by Corelli and Scarlatti. Handel's successful career in England was based on the reputation he gained as a composer and musician during his travels through Italy. At the age of 21 he had already established himself as a successful opera composer in Hamburg, before he journeyed to Italy in late 1706. He passed through Florence, Rome, Naples and Venice where he met and performed with Italy's composer elite: Arcangelo Corelli, Antonio Lotti, Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti. The Swedish soloist Susanne Rydén is one of Europe's sucessful sopranos specialising in early music. Her love and understanding of the colourful Baroque repertoire has led her to work with internationally acclaimed ensembles and conductors, recent concert seasons having included Bach's Christmas Oratorio with Nicholas McGegan and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Fransisco, the St. Matthew Passion with the Nederlandse Bachvereiniging, a programme of Handel with Harry Bicket and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Stockholm, Haydn's Creation with the Kölner Akademie, Handel's Messiah with the Bach Collegium Japan under Masaaki Suzuki, concerts with Lars Ulrik Mortensen and Concerto Copenhagen, Mozart Concert Arias with the Australian Brandenburg Baroque Orchestra and Paul Dyer, and European tours with Emma Kirkby as well as Collegium Vocale and Philippe Herreweghe. Recently she was the soloist at the 2009 Nobel Banquet in Stockholm.
"The Swedish soprano Susanne Rydén captivated her audience. The singer's enchanting presentation of the programme proved an exemplary demonstration of how to keep an audience eating out of one's hands." Goldberg
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