Handel: The Rival Queens: Arias and Duets from the era of 'The Rival Queens'

It was a happy idea to assemble a selection of Handel's arias written for the two sopranos whose famous rivalry coloured the last years of the first Royal Academy. Francesca Cuzzoni – impersonated... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Catalogue No: CDA66950
Label: Hyperion
Length: 75 minutes

Handel: Alessandro, HWV21

Work length33:35

$11.00

$13.75

Catherine Bott (soprano), Emma Kirkby (soprano)
The Brandenburg Consort
Roy Goodman

Act 1 No 1. Overture

Track length5:07

$1.00

$1.25

Act 1 No 2. Sinfonia

Track length2:20

$1.00

$1.25

Act 1. Recitative. Che vidi? Che mirai! (Lisaura / Rossane)

Track length1:39

$1.00

$1.25

Act 1. Aria. No, più soffrir non voglio (Lisaura)

Track length3:38

$1.00

$1.25

Act 1. Aria. Placa l'alma (Rossane / Lisaura)

Track length2:38

$1.00

$1.25

Act 2. Recitative. Solitudine amate (Rossane)

Track length2:19

$1.00

$1.25

Act 2. Aria. Aure, fonti, ombre gradite (Rossane)

Track length3:34

$1.00

$1.25

Act 2. Recitative. Pur troppo veggio d'Alessandro il core (Lisaura)

Track length0:21

$1.00

$1.25

Act 2. Aria. Che tirannia d'amor! (Lisaura)

Track length6:54

$1.00

$1.25

Act 2. Recitative. Svanisci oh reo timore (Rossane)

Track length0:27

$1.00

$1.25

Act 2. Aria. Dica il falso, dica il vero (Rossane)

Track length4:38

$1.00

$1.25

Excerpt, Handel: Admeto, Re di Tessaglia HWV22

Work length10:18

$4.00

$5.00

Catherine Bott (soprano), Emma Kirkby (soprano)
The Brandenburg Consort
Roy Goodman

Act 2. Recitative. Il ritratto d'Admeto (Antigona / Alceste)

Track length2:11

$1.00

$1.25

Act 2. Aria. La sorte mia vacilla (Antigona)

Track length3:19

$1.00

$1.25

Act 2. Recitative. Quest'è dunque la fede? (Alceste)

Track length0:30

$1.00

$1.25

Act 2. Aria. Vedrò fra poco (Alceste)

Track length4:18

$1.00

$1.25

Handel: Riccardo Primo, Re d'Inghilterra HWV23

Work length10:13

$3.00

$3.75

Emma Kirkby (soprano), Catherine Bott (soprano)
The Brandenburg Consort
Roy Goodman

Act 3. Recitative. Morte vieni, ma in van ti chiamo, oh morte (Costanza)

Track length2:54

$1.00

$1.25

Act 3. Recitative. A me nel mio rossore (Pulcheria / Costanza)

Track length1:50

$1.00

$1.25

Act 3. Aria. Quando non vede la cara madre (Pulcheria)

Track length5:29

$1.00

$1.25

Excerpt, Handel: Siroe, King of Persia, HWV24

Work length11:56

$4.00

$5.00

Emma Kirkby (soprano), Catherine Bott (soprano)
The Brandenburg Consort
Roy Goodman

Act 2. Recitative. A costei, che dirò? (Emira / Laodice)

Track length2:22

$1.00

$1.25

Act 2. Aria. L'aura non sempre (Laodice)

Track length3:36

$1.00

$1.25

Act 2. Recitative. Si diversi sembianti (Emira)

Track length0:15

$1.00

$1.25

Act 2. Aria. Non vi piacque, ingiusti dei (Emira)

Track length5:43

$1.00

$1.25

Excerpt, Handel: Tolomeo, Re di Egitto HWV25

Work length9:56

$3.00

$3.75

Emma Kirkby (soprano), Catherine Bott (soprano)
The Brandenburg Consort
Roy Goodman

Act 1. Recitative. E dove, e dove mai? (Seleuce)

Track length0:20

$1.00

$1.25

Act 1. Aria. Fonti amiche, aure leggiere (Seleuce)

Track length6:18

$1.00

$1.25

Act 3. Aria. Ti pentirai, crudel, d'aver offeso (Elisa)

Track length3:18

$1.00

$1.25

About
Reviews
Explore

About

Seventeenth-century London was gripped by a passion for Italian opera. Two soprano divas held centre stageFrancesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni, represented here by Catherine Bott and Emma Kirkby respectivelyand both quickly won a fiercely partisan following among audiences. The Royal Academy of Music cynically exploited this rivalry by repeatedly engaging the two to sing roles which would bring them into conflict, in 'stage' and 'real life' personas. (The unfortunate result of this scheme, which could almost be said to have worked 'too well', was that over-enthusiastic audiences rioted, the Academy fell into disrepute and debt, and closed in 1728.) In these operas we find Alessandro being fought over by his two wives; Admeto with a dead wife returned to disturb his courting of an old flame; Riccardo (Richard I of England) being harrassed by the daughter of the tyrant who has kidnapped his fiance; Siroe attempting to court his father's enemy's daughter while being pursued by Laodice whom his father loves; Tolomeo looking for his wife who is being pursued by the King of Cyprus whose sister is after Tolomeo Hell hath no fury All of the music on this album is also available as part of the specially priced box set Handel: Opera Arias: Kirkbys talent for matching brilliant coloratura with dramatic urgency remains unparalleled a compelling interpretation of rarely heard masterpieces (International Record Review).

Reviews

2010

It was a happy idea to assemble a selection of Handel's arias written for the two sopranos whose famous rivalry coloured the last years of the first Royal Academy. Francesca Cuzzoni – impersonated here by Catherine Bott – was Handel's principal soprano from 1723, creating among other roles Cleopatra and Rodelinda.
Faustina Bordoni – her roles here go to Emma Kirkby – arrived in 1726 and the two sang together in several operas including five new ones by Handel, all represented on this recording.
Both were superlative singers and each had a characteristic style.
In his music composed for them, Handel clearly differentiated between their capacities, as this disc illustrates. The 'rival queens' first sang together in Alessandro, which is the opera most fully represented here. There are two of Cuzzoni's arias, one brilliant piece with rapid divisions, which Bott throws off in splendidly free fashion, and a pathetic one, a typical F-minor siciliano, taken very slowly here, allowing plenty of time for some expressive elaboration in the da capo. Of Faustina's music we have the exquisite scena that opens Act 2, including the aria, 'Aure, fonti', and the lively one with which the act closes. The aria typifies, in the way it demands and rewards precisely detailed singing, Handel's writing for her, and Kirkby's refinement of detail is remarkable. There's beautifully managed interplay between the singers in the Alessandro duet; they seem to feed one another with opportunities.
The programme is imaginatively put together and Goodman is a prompt and stylish accompanist.
A thoroughly enjoyable disc.

Handel: The Rival Queens

Downloads

Contents

Download queue