Vocal - Harmony, Festival of Early Music

"The outstanding voice of Portuguese soprano Ana Vieira Leite, one of the most brilliant and sought-after young sopranos in the European Baroque scene, together with the Spanish-based Concerto 1700, offers a warm-toned to crystalline vision of a key work of 18th century music: the “Nine German Arias” by George Frideric Handel.

The composer rarely set texts in his native language, but here he drew on poems from Barthold Heinrich Brocke's collection “Irdisches Vergnügen in Gott bestehend in Physicalisch- und Moralischen Gedichten” and set them for soprano, violin or flute (or oboe) and basso continuo. The texts deal in a fascinating way with the pantheistic worship of nature and its beauty and inspired Handel to create music of great intensity and melodic beauty. They are infused with an almost operatic sense of declamation and communication. In each of the da capo arias, a harmonious dialog develops between voice and melodic instrument: a symbol of the perfect balance between the human and the divine."