Nuria Rial & Juan Sancho - Handel - Human Love, Love Divine (2020) [Hi-Res]

Nuria Rial's recordings for dhm are highly praised all over the world. Her album "Muera Cupido" with the ensemble Accademia del Piacere has just been nominated for the Opus Classic. For her new album, the soprano, together with Spanish tenor Juan Sancho, has selected arias and duets from G. F. Handel's operas, oratorios and cantatas that sing of human and divine love. The accompanying Capella Cracoviensis, conducted by Jan Tomasz Adamus, completes the album with dance movements and overtures. In baroque opera it was common practice for the duets to be sung by sopranos and castratos. Handel also successfully used this combination, especially in his operas. At the same time, however, he also devoted himself to the duo instrumentation "soprano & tenor", which was not very widespread at the time. Handel's duet art is reflected on this album in the exquisite sound examples from the operas "Ariodante" and "Hercules, the oratorio "Esther", the secular cantata "Cecilia, volgi un sguardo" and the ode "Acis and Galatea". In addition, there are a total of eight solo arias that describe different forms of human love: the traditional love of two lovers, for example, by Aminta for Fillide ("Se vago rio") or by Grimoaldo for Rodelinda ("Prigionera ho l'alma in pena"). Moreover, one encounters other forms of love, of affection. These include the love of Judas Maccabeus for his son who fell in battle, whom he sings with an immortal elegy "With honour let desert be crown'd". In "Let the bright, Seraphim" the Israelite pays homage to her victorious God. And in the aria "È un folle, è un vile affetto" the figure of Orontes shows himself to be extremely angry in the face of a spurned love. The album "Human Love, Love Divine" finally leads to a lively happy end - with the duet "Happy, happy we" from "Acis and Galatea".