Handel

Handel wrote ‘Arresta il passo’ (which Hyperion has renamed after its hero and heroine) for Rome’s Arcadian Academy in 1708. A suitably pastoral cantata for two voices, strings and continuo, it depicts the shepherd Aminta’s wooing of the initially reluctant nymph Fillide in a series of charming arias (some of which Handel reused in Agrippina and Rinaldo).

'Radamisto' was the first opera Handel composed for the Royal Academy, his first operatic venture in London, being produced for the first time in 1719; it was revived and revised in 1720, 1721 and 1728. This Berlin Classics recording, dating from 1962, presents an adaptation of the 1721 version, which drops a minor character, Fraarte. More importantly, in addition to the use of modern instruments and a chorus (in general Handel's chorus was assembled from the soloists–opera in eighteenth century London was a commercial venture so personnel was kept to a minimum), the libretto is translated into German and all the castrato roles are transposed down into either tenor or bass registers.

Belshazzar is one of Handel’s works that could be called a total failure at the time of its first performance. Premiered in 1745 to a nearly empty house, contemporary reports say that it was a disastrously bad performance. This oratorio never gained popularity in Handel’s lifetime, and he only performed it twice after the first performance. Yet this is no minor work. Full of great Handelian arias, and stirring choral movements, this oratorio deserves to stand among his greatest works. Drama and energy play like a flame through the pages of this work. It has everything a Handel oratorio needs: tension, excitement, and attractive melodies.

Handel Hendrix House in London’s Mayfair holds a substantial collection of keyboard instruments – spinet, organs, and harpsichords – both original from Handel’s own day and reproductions, representing a roster of some of the greatest names from Kirckman and Snetzler to Goetze & Gwynn and Bruce Kennedy’s copy of the Colmar Ruckers harpsichord. From these instruments the acclaimed and ever-thoughtful keyboard specialist Julian Perkins has created a very special recital, conjuring a treasure trove of the timbres and sounds that would have been heard when Handel and his colleagues played music in these very rooms: original works and arrangements by the master himself and his contemporaries, with Carole Cerasi joining as duet partner for Handel’s sumptuous Suite in C minor.

Georg Friedrich Händel wrote musical history with his operas. In his chosen domicile, London, he had to fight off italian competition, but having already studied their style in Rome he was well-equipped to mount the most important of the world's stages.

The Royal Handel of the title of this Alpha release does not refer to music for the king specifically but to the Royal Academy of Music. Founded in 1719, this opera organization gave Handel his first major post in Britain when he was appointed the music director. He traveled back to Italy, returning to London with the singers and instrumentalists who would bring his music to life over the next two decades. He had rivals whom he eclipsed, Giovanni Bononcini and Attilio Ariosti, and they are represented on the program; it's striking how Handelian their music sounds in this context, even if the Handel arias have greater breadth.

For the final volume in Fabio Bonizzoni’s survey of cantatas written by Handel during his stay in Italy, the background scenery moves – like a reflection of the Grand Tour – from Rome to Naples; probably the troubled times in a Rome besieged by Imperial troops during the War of the Spanish Succession may have encouraged the young, itinerant Saxon musician to consider that heading down south was safer and more conducive for his overall career prospects.

George Frideric Handel (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-born British Baroque composer famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Born in a family indifferent to music, Handel received critical training in Halle, Hamburg and Italy before settling in London (1712) as a naturalized British subject in 1727. By then he was strongly influenced by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition.