Handel: Vedendo amor, HWV 175

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.

Rising star countertenor Andrew Radley with harpsichord virtuoso Julian Perkins and his period instrument ensemble Sounds Baroque, mirror the conversazione, or musical gatherings, of 17th and 18th century Italy with a programme of dramatic cantatas and magical instrumental works.

In the late 17th century, all roads really did lead to Rome for the aspiring musician. There, wealthy aristocrats-turned-priests and Catholic nobility from across Europe vied for cultural status through artistic patronage. In particular, the young Pietro Ottoboni (1667–1740) reigned supreme among patrons of music, supporting among others Caldara and Albinoni, Alessandro Scarlatti and his son Domenico, and Handel, all of whom inspired and were inspired by one another. Musical gatherings of the time – called conversazione – often featured dramatic cantatas as well as virtuoso instrumental showpieces such as the works featured on this album.

Recalling this fertile musical era, rising star countertenor Andrew Radley with Julian Perkins and his London-based period instrument ensemble Sounds Baroque, dispatch these entertaining vocal works with aplomb, interspersed with virtuosic harpsichord works performed to perfection by Perkins. With this, the first in a series of conversazione recordings, Sounds Baroque celebrates the passion, theatricality and sheer variety of music from the 17th and 18th centuries.

This artist was originally described as a countertenor, but emancipated himself as an altus, characterized by a higher level of vibrato. His singing technique provides us with a realistic picture of what once enthused half of Europe, the castrato.

This new release features a selection of George Frideric Handel’s most celebrated cantatas and opera arias.

Jochen Kowalski and Axel Köhler, critically acclaimed interpreters of the music of Handel, perform these works with their customary panache and elegance.