Handel: Neun deutsche Arien, HWV202-210 (Nine German Arias)

In his set of nine pieces for soprano and a small group of instruments, Handel drew on music from his own operas, with the voice part adapted to be less virtuosic and more deeply expressive. The Three German Arias, recorded for the first time on this CD, by Johann Mattheson (1681-1764), which were formerly attributed to Handel, are a real discovery! The soprano, Monika Mauch interprets these arias beautifully and is accompanied by the specialist ensemble L’arpa festante.

Handel seldom set texts in his native language but for the Nine German Arias he took poems by Barthold Heinrich Brockes, called Earthly Pleasure in God, setting them for soprano, violin and basso continuo. The texts inspired Handel to write music of great intensity and melodic beauty, qualities augmented by an almost operatic sense of declamation. The Gloria dates from Handel’s stay in Italy and since its rediscovery in 2001 has become a major addition to his Latin Church music. Dorothea Craxton “has a beautiful voice, sings with care for the text and phrases sensitively.” (MusicWeb International on Naxos 8570981 / Fanny Hensel: Songs).

"One of the most glorious countertenor voices in the world today" The Independent

Winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Best Young Artist 2009, countertenor Iestyn Davies demonstrated that he is the outstanding artist of his generation. His expressiveness of tone, intensity of sound and musicianship were brought to bear in concert, and, of course, in opera, where his natural sense of drama stole many a show and, significantly, brought the spotlight back to the countertenor voice.

Iestyn Davies emerged as one of the country’s leading countertenors following his prize in the London Handel Singing Competition in 2004, only shortly after completing his studies at St John’s College, Cambridge as a choral scholar. He was immediately identified as an exciting operatic prospect, and his rôles soon included Ottone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea (Zurich Opera with Harnoncourt), Corrado in Vivaldi’s Griselda (Ensemble Matheus with Spinosi), and Hamor in Handel’s Jephtha (Welsh National Opera). Engagements quickly extended to rôles in Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria, also at WNO, and the parts of Apollo in Britten’s Death in Venice and Arsace in Partenope for English National Opera. He is equally active on the concert platform, appearing with many of the leading British ensembles, including the Academy of Ancient Music, Polyphony and the Monteverdi Choir. He made his solo recording début in Vivaldi’s Griselda with Ensemble Matheus for Naïve. This recital was part of the Wigmore's Hall's ongoing 'Art of the Countertenor' series, which also featured Andreas Scholl and Bejun Mehta.

Among Handel's vocal works - from the early, operatic solo cantatas to the full-blown operas and the oratorios of his London years - the Nine German Arias hold a special place. Possibly composed around the time that the composer made a final journey to Germany to take leave of his ailing mother, they were Handel's last settings of texts in his native language. It seems likely that these circumstances contributed to the intimate character of these highly personal works, in combination with the texts themselves. Barthold Heinrich Brockes' poems point ahead towards the Enlightenment, establishing as their setting a harmonically organised world, in which benevolent Nature is the prime example of God's bounty. Emma Kirkby has chosen to combine these arias with the much earlier Gloria, discovered in 2001 and given its première recording - by Emma Kirkby herself - in the same year. As a result of the smaller forces (two violins, cello and chamber organ) employed on this re-recording of the exuberant work, the performance has a more intimate atmosphere, giving an interesting perspective on a piece which although written 300 years ago, is still a new addition to the repertoire. Emma Kirkby and London Baroque share a musical relationship of long standing, and appear together on two previous Handel recordings on BIS. The recent 'Handel in Italy', a programme of early, secular solo cantatas, was highly praised by the reviewers, for instance in the German magazine Fono Forum: 'Emma Kirkby presents these pieces with a deep insight into human thought and feeling. her interaction with London Baroque is an impressive demonstration of how a common musical understanding has matured and strengthened throughout a collaboration of many years.' An earlier disc of 'Sacred Cantatas' also received a number of distinctions, including a 'BBC Music Choice' in BBC Music Magazine, whose reviewer had 'seldom been as moved by a recording, both music and performance.'

Soprano Nuria Rial performs Georg Friedrich Handel’s stunningly beautiful but rarely recorded German Arias, accompanied by the Austrian Baroque Company. Handel’s Deutsche Arien of 1724-7 stands relatively alone in the context of his Italian operas and English oratorios, and is a bold but fitting choice of repertoire for Catalan Soprano Nuria Rial, who specialises in baroque and early classical repertoire as her previous recordings of Haydn and Handel testify.

Directed by Michael Oman, one of the most distinguished and versatile recorder players of his generation, the Austrian Baroque Company also performs Handel's famous Fireworks Music in a version for recorder and small baroque orchestra, created by Michael Oman himself.