Not all of these solo cantatas for soprano were written "for Cardinal Pamphili," as the cover states; two were written for some other unknown Italian patron. But all date from early in Handel's career, when he was living in Italy. The picture that emerges from the detailed, informative notes by Ellen T. Harris is of a young composer working in private, chamber genres rather than the highly public ones of opera and oratorio that would form the basis of Handel's career in England. All of Handel's solo secular cantatas date from before his move to London, and they have been largely neglected. It's hard to say why, for they are extremely compelling pieces. It may be because few singers specialize in this type of material -- the cantatas are highly virtuosic but small in scale, which makes them all the more difficult for the singer. (Bach's church cantatas are similar in scale in many cases but require a different kind of intimacy.) Sample track 9, the aria Giacché il sonno a lei dipinge (As the sun draws for her), from the cantata Pensieri notturni di Fili (Phyllis' Thoughts at Night), for a taste of the distinctive qualities of the music and the performance here. Despite the unfamiliar genre, there are many Handelian trademarks in the music -- here he builds a complex, highly ornamented, perfectly balanced structure out of the seemingly lightweight jig rhythm. The soprano has a lot to do, and she has to do it in a quiet voice. Two of the cantatas, Tra le fiamme (Among the Flames) and Il delirio amoroso (The Ecstasy of Love), have a richer, more varied scoring that allows soprano
Roberta Invernizzi to stretch out a bit more, and here the talents of the orchestra
La Risonanza and conductor
Fabio Bonizzoni come into play; the group is supple and precise, with an extremely agile pair of recorder players. Hear also the instrumental "sonata" that opens Il delirio amoroso: the group captures the timing in Handel's motoric passages without ever lapsing into a mechanical feel. This is one of a group of recordings of Handel's Italian-language cantatas that have been released by this group of performers, and all of them should help elevate these pieces to the level of standard vocal repertory items. They are especially recommended to young sopranos, for they are of ideal dimensions for vocal recitals.