Handel in Italy - Solo Cantatas - BIS: BISSACD1695 - SACD or download

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Emma Kirkby… sings four solo cantatas… These showpieces make immense technical demands… But splendid though such displays are, it is her sense of characterisation which sets her apart. She... — BBC Music Magazine, September 2008, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 28th Jul 2008
Catalogue No: BISSACD1695
Label: BIS
Length: 67 minutes

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Handel: Notte placida e cheta, HWV 142

Work length15:13

$4.00

$5.20

$7.00

Emma Kirkby
London Baroque
Recorded: March 2007
Recording Venue: Lanna Church, Sweden

Recitative. Notte placida e cheta - Aria. Zeffiretti, deh venite

Track length6:24

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Recitative. Momento fortunato - Aria. Per un istante

Track length2:30

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Accompagnato. Ma gia sento che spande - Aria. Luci belle, vaghe stelle

Track length3:38

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Accompagnato. Oh delizie d'amor satie mie voglie - Aria. Che non si da

Track length2:41

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Excerpt, Handel: Un' alma inamorata HWV 173

Work length13:37

$3.00

$3.90

$5.25

Emma Kirkby
London Baroque
Recorded: March 2007
Recording Venue: Lanna Church, Sweden

Recitative. Un' alma innamorata - Aria. Quel povero core

Track length6:37

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Recitative. E pur benche egli veda - Aria. Lo godo, rido e spero

Track length5:13

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Recitative. In quanto a me ritrovo - Aria. Ben impari come se ama

Track length1:47

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Handel: Concerto a 4 in D Major

Work length5:46

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$7.00

London Baroque
Recorded: March 2007
Recording Venue: Lanna Church, Sweden

I. Con contento (Attrib. G.F.Telemann)

Track length1:40

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II. Allegro (Attrib. G.F.Telemann)

Track length1:27

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III. Largo (Attrib. G.F.Telemann)

Track length1:34

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IV. Presto (Attrib. G.F.Telemann)

Track length1:05

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Handel: Figlio d'alte speranze, HWV 113

Work length10:06

$3.00

$3.90

$5.25

Emma Kirkby
London Baroque
Recorded: March 2007
Recording Venue: Lanna Church, Sweden

Recitativo. Figlio d'alte speranze - Aria. Troppo costa ad un' alma

Track length4:40

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Recitativo. Era conforto il suo penar - Aria. Sia guida sua stella

Track length2:39

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Recitativo. In così dir previde - Aria. Brillava protetto

Track length2:47

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Handel: Agrippina condotta a morire, HWV 110

Work length22:28

$10.00

$13.00

$17.50

Emma Kirkby
London Baroque
Recorded: March 2007
Recording Venue: Lanna Church, Sweden

Recitative. Dunque sara ur vero

Track length0:54

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Aria. Orrida, oscura, l'etra si renda

Track length3:02

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Recitative. Ma pria che d'empia morte

Track length0:48

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Aria. Renda cenere il tiranno

Track length2:26

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Recitative. Si, si, del gran tiranno

Track length1:00

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Aria and Recitative. Come, o Dio! - Forsenneta … - Si, si … - Incanta … - Cada lacero … - Sparga quel … - Come, o Dio!

Track length5:28

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Aria. Se infelice al mondo vissi! - Ma vendetta almen faro

Track length5:03

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Recitative. Trema l'ingrato figlio

Track length0:56

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Aria. Su lacerate il seno

Track length1:57

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Recitative. Ecco a morte gia corro

Track length0:54

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About
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About

During his years in Italy (1706-1710), it is believed that Handel may have written as many as 150 cantatas including a number of so-called cantate con stromenti for one or more solo voices plus additional instruments. The four cantatas on this disc feature the standard combination for such works: soprano, two violins and basso continuo. Thematically, they can be grouped in pairs: Notte placida e cheta (Calm and Placid Night) and Un’ alma innamorata (A Soul in Love) tell of unhappy love and contain elements from Classical mythology against a pastoral backdrop. By contrast, Figlio d’alte speranze (Son of High Hopes) and Agrippina condotta a morire (Agrippina Led to Her Death) tell tales of the use and abuse of power.

Reviews

September 2008

Emma Kirkby… sings four solo cantatas… These showpieces make immense technical demands… But splendid though such displays are, it is her sense of characterisation which sets her apart. She can 'rejoice, laugh and hope' with palpable rapture (Un' alma innamorata, HWV173), change mood like quicksilver in the great Scena of Agrippina (HWV110) where the queen, condemned to death by her own son, swings schizophrenically from inconsolable despair to furious anger. Outstanding.

2010

The largest single legacy of Handel's years in Italy (in his early twenties) were around 100 chamber cantatas, from which Emma Kirkby and London Baroque have picked out four excellent examples from the 30 or so featuring one or two violins alongside the solo voice and continuo. In this they face strong competition from La Risonanza's series with Italian singers on Glossa, but the clash does no damage to either group as both have distinct virtues. For some, of course, the presence of Emma Kirkby will be enough to seal the deal, and indeed she is on superb form. Early on there are a few signs of a lack of her usual instrumental precision; but by the time she is showing off her artless virtuosity in the final aria of Figlio d'alte speranze and striding easily through 'Orrida, oscura', the first aria of the compellingly dramatic Agrippina condottaa morire, all worries have long been banished.
Her interpretative intelligence and attention to words are a given but she can also catch a subtle mood, as in 'Quel povero core' from Un' almainnamorata, whose sense of resigned torment is enhanced by a sensitive contribution from the solo violin. Emanuela Galli captures this kind of intimate emotion even more affectingly in La Risonanza's performances, mind, but with a touch less vocal security.
The recorded sound, as often in London Baroque's recordings for BIS, is strangely resonant and steely. The 'Concerto a quattro' included here is claimed as a Handel work in its German 18th-century source but sounds like nothing of the kind.

October 2008

Emma Kirkby… is on superb form. Her interpretative intelligence and attention to words are a given but she can also catch a subtle mood, as in "Quel povero core" from Un' alman innamorata, whose sense of resigned torment is enhanced by a sensitive contribution from the solo violin.

24th August 2008

Emma Kirkby, a seasoned Handelian, brings her considerable artistry to bear on some of [Handel's] most bold, moving and exciting music. Occasionally, particularly in the tragic 'Agrippina condotta a morire', one yearns for slightly darker shades than her naturally sunny voice can provide. Even so, here and in 'Notte placida e cheta', 'Un’ alma innamorata' and 'Figlio d’alte speranze', she and the [musicians] of London Baroque relish to the full the dramatic genius destined shortly to take London by storm.

Offer,Handel in Italy - Solo Cantatas

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