Handel: Amarilli vezzosa, HWV 82 (Daliso ed Amarilli or Il duello amoroso)

“Whether Scholl’s voice at all resembles that of the great original [Senesino] we cannot know, but it is wonderfully pure and moves with marvellous flexibility. He has the art of making recitative sound spontaneous and of catching the rhythmic impulse as though native to his body.” John Steane, Opera Now

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.

Eight years after his first Handel recital, Ombra mai fù, Andreas Scholl turns his talents to Handel's early chamber cantatas. The splendid Il duello amoroso offers the countertenor a chance to duet with young French-Canadian soprano Hélène Guilmette.

Andreas Scholl is possibly the most famous countertenor in the world. In 1998, his operatic debut at Glyndebourne in Handel's Rodelinda won unprecedented praise from the British press. His appearance on the Last Night of the Proms in 2005 awakened an entirely new audience to the countertenor phenomenon and sales of his Essential Andreas Scholl set hit the best-seller lists that Christmas. He made his debut at the New York Metropolitan Opera in 2006 and the same year won the Singer of the Year Award at the Classical Brits. Also in 2006, Andreas Scholl sang the title role in Handel's Giulio Cesare at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and in Rome. This has now been released on a Harmonia Mundi DVD.

The soloists of the Accademia Bizantina, all natives of the Italian peninsula, were founded in Ravenna in 1983. They are directed by Ottavio Dantone, musical director since 1996, who brings expertise in historically informed performance, leading to its position as one of today's finest Baroque groups.