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Excited to have a glorious new review in @TheScotsman
“the performances all boast star quality “
Thank you @KenWalton4
If you love #Handel & baroque music - new album *Handel’s Queens* is out now @SignumRecords @MusicCunningham @LucyCroweSop @MaryCBevan
⭐️ #StarQuality ⭐️ smarturl.it/handelsqueens
The Scotsman. Handel's Queens - Signum
Bridget Cunningham
London Early Opera
Mary Bevan & Lucy Crowe - sopranos
10 August 2019
In Handel's time, as today, singing superstars were feted and paid vast amounts of money.
Arias were written to virtuosic order and the divas themselves could often be difficult, as
Bridget Cunningham, conductor and creator of Handel's Queens informs us in her
fascinating sleeve notes to this compelling double disc.
Cunningham's nimble London Early Opera provide a glorious backdrop to the vocal
dexterity and stylistic flourishes of sopranos Mary Bevan and Lucy Crowe, who in fact reenact the personas of real-life 18th century divas Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni.
They perform arias not just by Handel but by his contemporaries such as Hasse,Pollarolo,
Vivaldi, Bononcini and the Englishman Maurice Greene.
There is no shortage of music on offer here, and the performances all boast star quality.
Ken Walton
The Scotsman
The Scotsman. Handel's Queens - Signum Bridget Cunningham London Early Opera Mary Bevan & Lucy Crowe - sopranos 10 August 2019 In Handel's time, as today, singing superstars were feted and paid vast amounts of money. Arias were written to virtuosic order and the divas themselves could often be difficult, as Bridget Cunningham, conductor and creator of Handel's Queens informs us in her fascinating sleeve notes to this compelling double disc. Cunningham's nimble London Early Opera provide a glorious backdrop to the vocal dexterity and stylistic flourishes of sopranos Mary Bevan and Lucy Crowe, who in fact reenact the personas of real-life 18th centurydivas Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni. They perform arias not just by Handel but by his contemporaries such as Hasse,Pollarolo, Vivaldi, Bononcini and the Englishman Maurice Greene. There is no shortage of music on offer here, and the performances all boast star quality. Ken Walton The Scotsman
“A new Opera of Handel’s called Alexander is to be performed & Faustina & Cuzzoni are to be Rivall Queens which must be good Diversion to the Audience, they hating one another like two Corn Cutters” London 1726
#newalbum #Handel’s Queens @SignumRecords Directed by Bridget Cunningham Available from smarturl.it/handelsqueens
Yes! We are straight in at No. 17 of Presto Classical Charts! Handel’s Queens
HANDEL WITH ATTITUDE
www.prestomusic.com/classical/articles/2786--presto-chart-the-presto-chart-july-2019
After release from imprisonment and being kidnapped by one of her patrons, Faustina Bordoni made her operatic debut in Pollarolo’s Ariodante. Her secret lover, violinist Mauro D’Alay led Handel’s Royal Academy orchestra - later she married Johann Hasse...
Listen in to Handel’s Queens to enjoy the stunning singing of Mary Bevan MBE
Handel’s Queens is available from:
smarturl.it/handelsqueens
Another beautiful image from the Gerald Coke Collection at the Foundling Museum. David Coke’s introductory essay on Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens can be found in our CD booklet “Handel at Vauxhall” available from
hyperurl.co/HandelatVauxhall2?fbclid=IwAR1mLWItH9A823ASa1N6srzuMJFzW8tmqLkjUn4hBi1W1tpaAqmSiaCugCMIn this hot weather, the only sensible option is having a cooling promenade in the park, like these figures from William Dickinson's 'The gardens of Carleton House with Neapolitan ballad singers', from our Gerald Coke Handel Collection.
