The majority of Handel’s
cantatas were written during his stay
in Italy (1706-1710). They were designed
to provide entertainment at the soirées
of his aristocratic patrons, the performers
being singers and instrumentalists who
also received aristocratic patronage.
The works themselves are of varying
types: full-scale dramatic cantatas
like Aci, Galatea e Polifemo
or short cantatas for solo voice and
continuo alone.
The aristocratic audience
was a sophisticated one, so composers
and poets who wrote for them were able
to experiment with the genre in the
knowledge that their listeners would
be appreciative. Handel was to mine
his Italian cantatas for the rest of
his life, building on his experiments
to create full-scale Italian operas.
The small-scale cantata is not strictly
a dramatic genre, but in his Italian
examples Handel often gives the impression
of trying out operatic styles, as if
the cantata was a short operatic scene.
The parts and score
of Tu fedel? to costante? HWV 171
were copied in May 1707 for Marchese
Ruspoli, Handel’s most important patron
in Rome; they are the first items in
the Ruspoli archive to mention Handel’s
name. The singer was almost certainly
Margherita Durastanti, a soprano with
whom Handel was to have a long and profitable
professional relationship. She sang
in a number of his operas in London.
The anonymous text tells of a woman
rejecting a fickle lover; a refreshing
change from the usual expressions of
confused or hopeless love to be found
in such works.
The piece consists
of four contrasting arias with a brisk
introductory Sonata. Handel re-used
two of the arias (with new words) in
his opera Rodrigo; the tune of
another aria was the basis for the final
chorus of Alexander’s Feast in
1736.
Mi palpita il cor
HWV132, exists in a number of versions
with different instrumental obbligatos.
The version of the cantata performed
here, for soprano and oboe, probably
dates from Handel’s early years in London
(circa. 1711); there is a later version
for alto voice and flute. The cantata
is re-working of Dimmi, o mio cor
HWV106 which dates from his Italian
period. The music from opening Arioso
crops up in a number of later works
including Samson. Following the
Arioso, the cantata consists of the
traditional two arias introduced by
recitatives, expressing conflicting
emotions in a young man uncertain of
his love.
Alpestre monte HWV81
was written in Florence in 1707; it
was thought to exist only in fragmentary
form but this recording uses manuscript
versions which were discovered in Manchester
Central Library and the Bodleian Library,
Oxford. A setting of a text by Handel’s
contemporary Francesco Mancini, it expresses
the thoughts of a young man driven to
distraction by his love. It opens in
a mood of exaggerated melancholy and
the young man goes on to express ‘his’
emotion in two intense arias.
Tra le fiamme
HWV170, is again of uncertain
date but it has a prominent part for
viola da gamba which indicates it may
be contemporary with Handel’s oratorio
La Resurezzione which dates from
1708. Italian players of the instrument
were rare and the part may have been
written for the violist Ernst Christian
Hesse who visited Italy in 1708. The
poem, by Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili,
begins by comparing a lover and a moth
fatally drawn into a flame then continues
with a series of reflections on Icarus.
The main theme of the opening aria is
based on the Passacaille from the overture
to Rodrigo; Handel re-used it
again in Partenope. In a masterly
stroke, Handel repeats the first section
of the opening aria at the end of the
cantata.
These performances
were first recorded in December 1984
and wear their age well. Kirkby’s voice
suits this style of smaller-scale Handelian
music. Whereas in the bigger, operatic
piece I long for a richer, more vibrant
voice, in these chamber pieces she is
ideally suited, delightfully capturing
the fugitive pleasure and pains that
Handel depicts. As ever she is completely
assured at a technical level, dazzling
with her virtuosity but always in the
service of expression and the music.
Kirkby is beautifully
supported by Hogwood and the Academy
of Ancient Music, with crisp, dance-like
accompaniments and some fine solo instrumental
playing.
My only complaint is
to wish that she’d recorded more of
them; a Kirkby edition of the complete
Handel Italian cantatas would have been
a true delight. Still, we have this
delightful selection; a record which
I will play again and again.
Robert Hugill
Emma Kirkby (soprano) 
