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Handel’s oratorio Solomon is now regarded by its performers and its listeners as one of his greatest compositions.

The quality of the vocal performances in this live recording of Alcina can be strongly correlated to the singers' prior experience in the Baroque repertoire.

The pianist Jonathan Fournel, recent prizewinner of the prestigious 2021 Queen Elisabeth Competition (where he won not only the Queen Elisabeth Grand Prix, but also the Queen Mathilde Prize, the Musiq3 Audience Prize and the Canvas-Klara Award) has joined the Alpha label for several recordings, starting with a Brahms programme recorded in the superb acoustic of the music room at La Chaux-de-Fonds just before the Competition: ‘Over the years, for me Brahms has become a figure I admire so tremendously, a composer I can never tire of.

The sensational South Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho, the best-selling winner of the International Chopin Competition, shares his love for an often neglected corner of the keyboard repertoire: Handel's Keyboard Suites.

Among Handel's seventeen English oratorios, Theodora (1750) is unique. The story is not taken from the Bible, but is about a Christian martyr. The characteristics of the oratorio are very negative: there is no national triumph and does not end in joy, hero and heroine are dying, the community with which the audience identifies is in mortal danger, and the final chorus is in a minor key.

The countertenor Tim Mead leads an all-star cast in the Early Opera Company’s recording of Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula, conducted by Christian Curnyn.

‘Well, what a surprise – a divine surprise! I have delighted in immersing myself in the world of Handel for more than forty years now. But I must admit that I experienced yet another lesson in strength and joy when I toured and recorded the Dettingen Te Deum and the Coronation Anthems ’, says Hervé Niquet.

First of all, we can see that the form of the “Concerto Grosso” is almost absent in this collection, with a succession of movements more often reminiscent of the Dance Suite, the Overture or even the Concerto for several instruments. The featured soloists range from Violins, Cellos, Oboes, Bassoons, Flutes and even the Organ. But what most disconcerts and bewilders the scholar is the compositional technique.

Il pomo d’oro and Francesco Corti present Handel’s Apollo e Dafne and Armida abbandonata, together with two outstanding vocalists: soprano Kathryn Lewek (Armida & Dafne) and baritone John Chest (Apollo). Handel composed these two cantatas shortly after his Italian sojourn (1706-1709), and they demonstrate his acquaintance with and aptitude for Italian operatic music.

L’Allegro … ist eine Mischform aus Oratorium, Ode und Serenade und gehört zu den rätselhaftesten Werken von Händel, aber auch zu seinen genialsten!