Handel's Unsung Heroes

Listen on Presto Music. Free thirty day trial. Find out more.

This is a stunning collection of Handel opera numbers. For originality, risk-taking and erudition, it towers above its predecessors. It also benefits from its mix of soloists – having chosen... — BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2021, 5 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 29th Oct 2021
Catalogue No: PTC5186892
Label: Pentatone
Length: 71 minutes

Presto Editor's Choice

October 2021
BBC Music Magazine

Christmas 2021

Recording of the Month

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Early Music - up to 35% off selected titles

Special offer ends: 04/06/2024

Handel: Teseo Overture

Work length4:44

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

La Nuova Musica
David Bates

Excerpt, Handel: Rinaldo

Work length5:53

$3.00

$3.90

$5.25

Iestyn Davies
La Nuova Musica
David Bates

Marcia

Track length0:51

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Battaglia

Track length1:32

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Or la tromba

Track length3:30

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Handel: Sta nell'Ircana pietrosa tana (from Alcina)

Work length6:00

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Christine Rice (mezzo-soprano)
La Nuova Musica
David Bates

Excerpt, Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto

Work length15:01

$7.00

$9.10

$12.25

Iestyn Davies, Alexander Chance, Lucy Crowe (soprano)
La Nuova Musica
David Bates

Act II Sinfonia

Track length0:32

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Cieli, e qual delle sfere

Track length0:18

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Act III Sinfonia

Track length0:51

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Recitativo. Giulio, che miri?

Track length0:18

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

V'adoro, pupille

Track length4:54

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Se in fiorito ameno prato

Track length8:08

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Handel: Scherza, infida (from Ariodante)

Work length11:28

$3.00

$3.85

$5.25

Christine Rice (mezzo-soprano)
La Nuova Musica
David Bates

Handel: Qui l'augel da pianta in pianta (from Aci, Galatea e Poliremo)

Work length10:28

$3.00

$3.85

$5.25

Lucy Crowe (soprano)
La Nuova Musica
David Bates

Handel: Venti turbini (Rinaldo)

Work length3:49

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Iestyn Davies
La Nuova Musica
David Bates

Handel: Rodrigo: Passacaglia

Work length4:27

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

La Nuova Musica
David Bates

Handel: Pena tiranna (from Amadigi)

Work length5:53

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Iestyn Davies
La Nuova Musica
David Bates

Handel: Se giunge un dispetto (from Agrippina)

Work length3:23

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Lucy Crowe (soprano)
La Nuova Musica
David Bates

About
Reviews
Videos
Explore

About

Interview, David Bates on Handel's 'Unsung Heroes'

6th December 2021

The Artistic Director of La Nuova Musica talks about his new album of Handel arias, shining the spotlight not just on the vocalists but on the instrumentalists whose obbligato lines enhance the music.

INSTRUMENTALISTS PUT CENTRE STAGE

After their acclaimed recording of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, La Nuova Musica and David Bates expand their PENTATONE discography with Handel’s Unsung Heroes, in which the instrumentalists of Handel’s operas are put centre stage. Traditionally restricted to an “invisible” existence in the orchestra pit, La Nuova Musica’s obbligato instrumentalists – violinist Thomas Gould, oboist Leo Duarte and bassoonist Joe Qiu – are now in the limelight. They will stand as equal partners alongside a world-class line up of soloists – soprano Lucy Crowe, mezzo-soprano Christine Rice and countertenor Iestyn Davies – showing how Handel wrote music as virtuosic and lyrical for his unsung heroes as for their singing counterparts. The album includes arias from Handel masterpieces such as Rinaldo, Giulio Cesare, Agrippina and Ariodante.

La Nuova Musica and its artistic director David Bates are among the most exciting Baroque ensembles of today. Their PENTATONE debut with Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice was both BBC Music Magazine Choice and Gramophone Editor’s Choice in December 2019. Iestyn Davies returns to PENTATONE after having sung the title role in that same release, whereas Lucy Crowe and Christine Rice make their PENTATONE debut.

Released physically on standard CD.

Reviews

Christmas 2021

This is a stunning collection of Handel opera numbers. For originality, risk-taking and erudition, it towers above its predecessors. It also benefits from its mix of soloists – having chosen the music for its expressive licence, David Bates brings together world-class vocal and instrumental virtuosos to perform it.This project is a heroic achievement for all involved.

May/June 2022

all three soloists are excellent, with complete vocal control over Handel’s often tortuous lines, whether they be lyrical or filled with coloratura.

January 2022

Virtually every number is a Handelian winner, the performances could hardly be bettered, and Pentatone’s presentation, including apt contemporary quotes and illuminating notes from Ruth Smith and Bates himself, is a model of its kind.

October 2021

It's a joy to hear members of La Nuova Musica's crack team of players stepping into the spotlight with such flair and synergy with their respective singers in this programme of opera arias with obbligato instruments: I love the hint of good-natured one-upmanship between violinist Thomas Gould and Iestyn Davies in the avian cadenzas of Cesare's Se in fiorito ameno prato.

16th January 2022

All [instrumentalists] deserve their star billing, pitted against three admired Handel singers. Davies’s boyish alto is better suited to Caesar’s musing about the beauty of nature than to Rinaldo’s martial bravura, Crowe is a rich-voiced Agrippina and Cleopatra, and Rice is heroic in arias written for the castrato, Carestini.

Videos

An error occurred.

Try watching this video on www.youtube.com, or enable JavaScript if it is disabled in your browser.

Offer,Handel's Unsung Heroes

CD

Downloads

Contents

Interview, David Bates on Handel's 'Unsung Heroes'

Download queue