Handel Italian Cantatas Sabine Devieilhe Bclea Desandre Le Concert D’astrée Emmanuelle Haïm

This "fête Baroque" occurred in December 2011 at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, marking the tenth anniversary of the ensemble Le Concert d'Astrée under founder and conductor Emmanuelle Haïm. The concert was a benefit for a French cancer research facility, and it attracted a galaxy of guest stars. Le Concert d'Astrée is one of the very best Baroque vocal ensembles, and this release never descends to a low common denominator. Haïm's trademark expressive phrasing is everywhere in evidence, but the biggest attraction is the selection of singers, with several figures from the mainstream showing up alongside established Baroque specialists.

Such stalwarts as Christopher Hogwood, Marc Minkowski, John Eliot Gardiner, and Nicholas McGegan tackled Handel's early oratorio La Resurrezione before Emmanuelle Haïm, but hers may well be the most passionate performance of the once-rare work yet recorded. Part of the reason is Haïm's own fiery nature. Nothing here is merely filler: every aria, recitative, and interlude is played for maximum musical and emotional value. Part of her success is due to Haïm's choice of soloists. While some listeners might wish soprano Camilla Tilling brought more strength to her part, she and the other four soloists bring plenty of intensity to their singing.

Handel's Italian cantatas date from early in his career, with few exceptions (none on display here). As a group they are less well-known than his operas, but they're equally virtuosic, and performances of the cantatas whole, as with the three here, are a bit more satisfying than with the operas. The cantatas were composed for parties among powerful Roman cardinals, and they catch the young Handel at the peak of his first success, as Roman audiences hailed him as "il caro Sassone" (the dear Saxon).

Handel was in his twenties when he travelled throughout Italy, producing some of the Baroque era’s most exciting, colourful music for his patrons. These cantatas—effectively mini-operas with one or two characters and performed in aristocratic homes—were only recently rediscovered, having remained unpublished for 300 years. They’re vintage Handel: Aminta e Fillide, telling of a shepherd’s love for a shepherdess, features some of his most skilful vocal writing, deftly and gracefully performed by Sabine Devieilhe and Lea Desandre. The star attraction, Armida abbandonata, explores the gamut of Handel’s genius and deserves a place among his greatest operas. Le Concert d’Astrée are in blistering form.

Two decades ago Handel's early Italian-language cantatas were little known, but sopranos have discovered that they provide a top-level vocal workout while offering more than a hint of the mature Handel's genius. This disc by French singer Natalie Dessay, one of the hottest sopranos on the scene, is going to be hard to beat. Dessay shares the credit with the period-instrument ensemble Le Concert d'Astrée and its conductor Emmanuelle Haïm, who has been turning out one groundbreaking Baroque disc after another.

This is an excellent recording of Handel's "other" Acis – an Italian cantata he composed during a visit to Naples ten years before he wrote the more famous English masque Acis and Galatea. Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert d'Astrée play with pathos, imagination, and impeccable style, never forgetting that, in a work for such intimate forces, maintaining musical momentum and variety is the key to success. Sandrine Piau (Aci), Sara Mingardo (Galatea), and Laurent Naouri (Polifemo) are perfectly cast; Piau's crystalline soprano and Mingardo's warm, full-bodied mezzo blend wonderfully in their duets, sounding as if they have sung together for years, and both of them deliver spectacular solo moments.

What a wonderful contrast! Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Bach’s Magnificat represent the two oft-compared composers at Dixit . He had already written two Italian operas, and his career path clearly pointed in that direction. The Dixit is as extravagant as Bach’s Magnificat is controlled. The two pieces are such a good fit that one wonders why they haven’t turned up together more frequently, if, in fact, they have at all.

The fact that the role of Handel's Cleopatra includes enough music to fill out a CD, and that, combined with the music's demands for immense virtuosity and versatility, makes it a daunting challenge and Natalie Dessay is impressive in her account of these excerpts. Dessay's singing is not entirely consistent throughout the album, recorded in 2010, whether because some arias are simply better suited to her voice than others, or because she was not at her best for some of the recording sessions. While the agility and precision of her coloratura are always intact, in some selections, such as the arias "Tutto può donna vezzosa," and "Venere bella," Dessay's voice sounds lighter than it does on albums from earlier in her career, and even a little breathy in her lower register. In other arias, though, she conveys the remarkable fullness and purity for which she is renowned. "Se pieta di me non senti" is breathtaking; her gleaming tone is practically voluptuous and she spins lines of miraculously velvety smoothness and searing emotional intensity.

Following several acclaimed albums of Handel’s operatic and choral masterpieces (including a triumphant Giulio Cesare with Natalie Dessay as Cleopatra and the oratorio La Resurrezione with British soprano Kate Royal), French harpsichordist and conductor Emmanuelle Haïm at last brings her fresh, expressive approach to Messiah. Joining her on a musically and spiritually uplifting journey for this long-awaited recording is Haïm’s own choir and period-instrument orchestra, Le Concert d’Astrée, with four of the UK’s finest Handelian singers. Having begun her career as a brilliant harpsichordist and protegee of Baroque pioneers William Christie and Christophe Rousset, Haïm has a long history with Messiah.