Handel: Ah! Ruggiero (from Alcina)

When Joan Sutherland died, many music critics commented on the quality of her voice in her early performances. The concert performances recorded here gave her the opportunity to deliver glorious singing without too many distractions. She was also able to collaborate with artists who she would not encounter in the opera house, such as Dennis Brain, heard here.

and readings from Acqua alta by Donna Leon

• Canadian superstar soprano Karina Gauvin pays tribute to baroque diva Anna Maria Strada del Pò, singing rarities by Vinci, Vivaldi and some of the greatest Handel arie di bravura. Like Strada del Pò in her prime, Miss Gauvin sings this repertoire with powerful expression and brilliant technique, in particular, the trills for which Strada del Pò was renowned. More than thirteen opera roles were created by Handel for Strada del Pò (including Sosarme, Orlando, and Alcina). Strada del Pò’s talent and style may have influenced the composer’s work as much as he contributed to the vocal and dramatic development of the prima donna in the first decades of the 18th century.

• Karina Gauvin has impressed audiences and critics the world over with her luscious timbre, profound musicality and wide vocal range. The Globe and Mail calls her “one of the dream sopranos of our time.” The Sunday Times in London also wrote: “Her glinting soprano, bright-edged yet deliciously rounded and sensual, is used with rare understanding for character... ”

• Arion Baroque Orchestra, founded in 1981, is Quebec’s only early music orchestra performing on period instruments and is one of the most renowned early music ensembles in North America. Conductor Alexander Weimann has traveled the world as member of Tragicomedia, as guest of Freiburger Barockorchester, Gesualdo Consort, Tafelmusik, and as music director of Les Voix Baroques and Le Nouvel Opéra. As guest conductor, he has led the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy and the symphony orchestras in Halifax and Victoria. He is currently music director of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra in Victoria (B.C.).