George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Great Victor (Belshazzar) / No, no chi’io non sprezzo (Agrippina) / Io t’abbraccio (Rodelinda) / Per le porte de tormento (Sosarme) / Notte cara (Ottone) / Vivo in te (Tamerlano) / Bramo aver mille vite (Ariodante) / Se teco vive il cor (Radimisto) / To Thee (Theodora) / Streams of Pleasure (Theodora) / Welcome as the dawn (Solomon) / Caro! Bella! (Giulio Cesare)

This new Handel collection features two great singers alongside the English Concert, arguably the best baroque orchestra in the UK. Duets play a key role in Handel’s stage works. A master of the Baroque opera seria medium, with its extended sequence of solo arias and recitative dialogue, he understood the dramatic effectiveness of occasional numbers blending two voices, generally those of a soprano heroine and a castrato hero.

The programme offers a carefully chosen selection of Handel operas from his operas Giulio Cesare, Belshazzar , Theodora, Ottone, Sosarme, Radimisto, Rodelinda, Agrippina and Tamerlano.

Sarah Connolly CBE has become a highly sought-after performer on the operatic stage in a wide range of repertoire. Her Handelian roles have including the title-role in Giulio Cesare for the Glyndebourne Festival; in Agrippina, Xerxes, Ariodante and Ruggiero (Alcina) for the English National Opera and Ino/Juno (Semele) for the San Francisco Opera.

Rosemary Joshua is especially highly regarded for her Handel roles, having sung Ginevra (Ariodante) in San Diego; Angelica (Orlando) in Munich, for Covent Garden and at the Aix-en- Provence Festival; and the title-role in Semele for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award and recorded for Chandos. Her recording of Partenope for Chandos was awarded the Stanley Sadie Handel Recording Prize.

With a combination of such forces, this album is sure to make for a must-have for all Handel enthusiasts.

This album launches with a Wigmore Hall concert on April 1st, 2010.