Eloquence Handel: Italian Cantatas CD

As one of music’s greatest recyclers, Handel would have earned untold respect in our time. That he managed (largely) to achieve this so felicitously, so that whether you were listening to an aria in the context of an English oratorio or an Italian cantata it seemed intuitively ‘right’, is tribute to his skill. This collection of four Italian cantatas by Kirkby and Hogwood has been something of a benchmark for this repertoire with an equal display of fireworks and ‘cantabile’ and returns after a long absence to the catalogue, now at budget price.