71. Coffee Concert

Contrasto Armonico is made up of musicians from all over Europe who share the same ideals and feelings for early music performance practice, using copies of original instruments and historical pitches. The ensemble is in the process of recording all Handel’s Italian cantatas, giving us the opportunity of hearing a selection of his rarely heard vocal works with the Italian soprano Beatrice Palumbo. These secular cantatas consist of a mixture of arias and recitative, mostly about unrequited love, with various accompanying instruments, especially effective when the voice duets with recorder. The four cantatas alternate with favourite trio sonatas by Handel and Corelli.