Opera Arias and Overtures – 2 Handel 2000 CD Top-quality Free UK shipping

This line-up’s newest survey of Handel’s opera arias for soprano deals with the latter part of his career, when most of the roles were being created by Anna Strada del Po, a singer both personally and vocally reliable. Most of the operas represented here are comparatively obscure, the exception being Alcina, the most famous of Strada’s roles, from which Kirkby sings the well-known “Ah Ruggiero”. In these later works, Handel is often more expressively experimental than we expect him to be–“Che t’intende” from Berenice is effectively a duet between the soprano and an oboe, here played eloquently by Katharina Arfken. The overtures are welcome additions to the catalogue as well, reminding us that Handel went on being inventive to the end. Goodman’s adroit performances remind us that these were popular theatrical works as well as great music.