Handel, G.F. - Duet Rosemary Joshua

• George Frideric Handel (1685 -1759):
• 1 Radamisto, HWV 12, Act III: Se teco vive il cor 03:16
• 2 Rodelinda, HWV 19, Act II: Io t'abbraccio 06:52
• 3 Solomon, HWV 67, Part I: Welcome as the dawn of day 03:09
• 4 Theodora, HWV 68, Act III: Streams of pleasure ever flowing 06:47
• 5 Ottone, re di Germania, HWV 15, Act III: Duet: Note cara! 04:35
• 6 Theodora, HWV 68, Act II: To thee, thou glorious son of worth 04:54
• 7 Ariodante, HWV 33, Act III: Bramo haver mille vite 04:50
• 8 Belshazzar, HWV 61, Act III: Great victor, at your feet I bow 04:57
• 9 Tamerlano, HWV 18, Act III: Vivo in te mio caro bene 07:00
• 10 Sosarme, re di Media, HWV 30, Act II: Per Le Porte del Tormento 07:32
• 11 Agrippina, HWV 6, Act III: No, no, ch'io non apprezzo 03:53
• 12 Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17, Act III: Caro! Bella! 04:48
• Total Runtime 01:02:33

Info for Handel, G.F. - Duet

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.

Rosemary Joshua: soprano
Sarah Connolly: mezzo-soprano
English Concert, Harry Bicket

Cardiff-born soprano Rosemary Joshua is one of the most in-demand Handel singers in the world, yet opportunities to hear her on Britain's shores are far too seldom. That makes English National Opera's new production of Handel's Partenope all the more welcome: Joshua takes the title role, one of the most demanding in the repertoire, in an unjustly neglected work from the composer's maturity. I caught up with the soprano at the Coliseum after the first night of the run to talk about Handel, her belated debut at Welsh National Opera, her returns to Covent Garden and the Proms, and her plans for new recordings.

Joshua is looking relaxed and self-confident as we meet, and she's evidently relieved to have had a few days' rest after an exhausting rehearsal schedule. Christopher Alden's new production has baffled many of the critics in its aims, so I ask Joshua to clarify the thinking behind it.

'It's very difficult to explain,' she admits. 'Christopher had so many fabulous ideas, and did so much research into this era; it's very interesting to think of the Surrealists and see everybody coming together and get a sense of 'anything goes'. He wanted to create this environment of a group of people who work together, hang out together, with Partenope as a queen bee dressed as Nancy Cunard or Coco Chanel. It's like the Bloomsbury Group, which is a really interesting idea.

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