AAM: Handel's Heroines

Few composers faced feistier sopranos than Handel, nor wrote for them with such love and understanding, celebrating their voices in some of the most dazzling operatic arias ever written.

From Handel’s exhilarating ‘Arrival of the Queen of Sheba’ to the meltingly lovely ‘Lascia la spina’ and Semele’s outrageous display of virtuosity, ‘Myself I shall adore’ this is a concert of high-wire musical thrills and heart-stopping emotions, coming to you in partnership with the London Handel Festival.

Celebrated Handelian Laurence Cummings brings his unmistakable flair and zest to a programme that roams through the composer’s best-loved operas and oratorios, including Serse, Ariodante, Rinaldo and Semele, setting their finest arias and duets alongside some of the composer’s characterful works for orchestra. Bringing glittering coloratura brilliance and lyrical ease to Handel’s melodies, sopranos Mary Bevan and Jennifer France join Cummings and the AAM as soloists for what promises to be a joyous evening of music-making.

'The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba' from Solomon, HWV67 

'Volate, amori' from Ariodante

'Dolce riposo ed inoccente pace' from Teseo

'Felicissima quest'alma' from Apollo & Daphne, HWV122 

Suite of dances from Ariodante, HWV33 

'Lascia la spina cogli la rosa' from Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, HWV46a 

Concerto Grosso Op. 3 No. 2 in B-flat Major, HWV313 

'Will the sun forget to streak' from Solomon, HWV67 

Concerto Grosso Op. 3 No. 6 in D Major, HWV317 

'O Ecstasy of Happiness' & 'Myself I shall adore' from Semele, HWV58 

'M'adora l'idol mio, gode il mio core' from Teseo, HWV9 

Overture to Rinaldo, HWV7a 

'Verso gia l'alma col sangue' from Acis & Galatea

'O sleep, why dost thou Leave Me' from Semele, HWV58 

'Bless'd the Day' from Solomon, HWV67 

Overture to Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, HWV46a 

'Troppo oltraggil la mia fede, alma fiera' from Serse, HWV40

Mary Bevan Soprano

Jennifer France Soprano

Laurence Cummings Director/ Harpsichord

Academy of Ancient Music