Handel: Rodelinda (3-CD) – The English Concert

Composer: George Frideric Handel
Artists: Lucy Crowe, Iestyn Davies, Joshua Ellicott, Brandon Cedel, Jess Dandy, Tim Mead, The English Concert
Conductor: Harry Bicket
Number of Discs: 3
Label: Linn Records
CD Release Date: May 14, 2021

Handel’s 1725 hit opera Rodelinda was written for the greatest voices of its day and is performed here by some of today’s finest, as The English Concert and artistic director Harry Bicket’s acclaimed concert cycle of Handel operas appears for the first time on Linn.

Lucy Crowe and Iestyn Davies are the devoted partners Rodelinda and Bertarido, heading a cast packed with exactly the sort of vocal star-power Handel would have expected, including Joshua Ellicott, Tim Mead, Brandon Cedel and Jess Dandy. Both Davies and Crowe have won acclaim for their performances in these roles: BBC Music Magazine wrote, “Iestyn Davies stole the show with aria after aria of heavenly purity and ardour,” whilst BachTrack commented, “Lucy Crowe gave a brilliant performance. Her singing, firmly centred, agile and sparking with temperament, was a triumph.”

The English Concert’s reputation for combining urgency, passion and fire with precision, delicacy and beauty will ensure their forthcoming series of Handel operas will become an essential part of Linn’s catalogue. The English Concert will record Handel’s Tamerlano in 2021.

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