Handel: Imeneo, HWV 41 Europa Galante & iFabrizio Beggi

• Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759): Imeneo, HWV 41: Act I:
• 1 Overture 04:56
• 2 Menuet 01:12
• 3 Aria - Recitative: La mia bella, perduta Rosmene (Tirinto) 03:31
• 4 Recitative: Tirinto! (Argenio, Tirinto) 00:22
• 5 Aria: Se potessero i sospir' miei (Tirinto) 05:37
• 6 Recitative: Cerere onnipotente (Argenio) 00:26
• 7 Vien Imeneo frai voi (Chorus) 01:30
• 8 Recitative: Argenio, addio (Tirinto, Argenio, Imeneo) 01:30
• 9 Aria: Di cieca notte allor (Argenio) 05:18
• 10 Recitative: Rosmene, alfin dovresti (Imeneo) 00:18
• 11 Aria: Ingrata mai non fui (Rosmene) 05:56
• 12 Recitative: Se non era il mio braccio (Imeneo, Tirinto) 00:26
• 13 Aria: D'amor nei primi istanti (Tirinto) 04:14
• 14 Recitative: Paventar non degg'io (Imeneo) 00:26
• 15 Aria: Esser mia dovra la bella tortorella (Imeneo) 06:02
• 16 Duet: Vado e vivo colla speranza (Tirinto, Rosmene) 02:39
• Imeneo, HWV 41, Act II:
• 17 Aria: Deh! M'aiutate; o dei (Rosmene) 02:23
• 18 Recitative: Vogliono i tuoi maggiori (Argenio, Rosmene) 00:51
• 19 Aria: Su l'arena di barbara scena (Argenio) 04:25
• 20 Recitative: La mia mente or confusa vorria (Rosmene, Clomiri) 00:52
• 21 Aria: Semplicetta, la saetta (Rosmene) 04:05
• 22 Recitative: Imeneo, lieto in viso (Tirinto, Imeneo) 00:44
• 23 Aria: E si vaga del tuo bene (Tirinto) 04:07
• 24 Aria: Sorge nell'alma mia (Imeneo) 05:32
• 25 Recitative: Sembra un fanciullo, amore (Tirinto) 00:39
• 26 Aria: Chi scherza colle rose (Tirinto) 03:04
• 27 Recitative: Udisti gi'a; che ad Imeneo concesso (Argenio) 00:23
• 28 Trio: Consolami, mio bene (Imeneo, Rosmene, Tirinto) 05:13
• 29 E troppo bel trofeo (Chorus) 01:43
• Imeneo, HWV 41, Act III:
• 30 Recitative: Al fin decidi (Tirinto, Imeneo, Rosmene) 00:43
• 31 Aria: In mezzo a voi dui (Rosmene) 05:36
• 32 Recitative: Se tua sara Rosmene (Imeneo, Tirinto) 00:44
• 33 Recitative: Fiero destino contro di me d'e mosso (Rosmene) 00:28
• 34 Recitative: Rosmene, a che sospendi (Imeneo, Rosmene) 00:14
• 35 Aria: Se la mia pace a me vuoi togliere (Imeneo) 00:26
• 36 Recitative: Sospirata Rosmene (Tirinto, Rosmene) 00:27
• 37 Aria: Un guardo solo (Tirinto) 06:55
• 38 Recitative: Sentimi per pieta (Tirinto, Rosmene) 00:09
• 39 Aria: Se la mia pace a me vuoi togliere (Tirinto) 00:27
• 40 Recitative: Scorgesti, che Rosmene (Clomiri, Argenio, Rosmene) 00:30
• 41 Duet - Recitative: Se la mia pace a me vuoi togliere (Tirinto, Imeneo, Rosmene) 01:00
• 42 Recitative: Miratela, che arriva (Rosmene) 01:56
• 43 Recitative: Misera! (Imeneo, Tirinto, Argenio, Rosmene) 00:29
• 44 Aria: Al voler di tua fortuna (Rosmene) 00:42
• 45 Recitative: Disse appunto cosi (Rosmene, Argenio, Clomiri, Imeneo, Tirinto) 00:41
• 46 Aria: Io son quella navicella (Rosmene) 01:41
• 47 Recitative: Non vuol ch'io pie ritorni il mio nocchiero (Rosmene, Imeneo) 00:58
• 48 Duet: Per le porte del tormento (Rosmene, Tirinto) 09:18
• 49 Se consulta il suo dover (Chorus) 02:34
• Total Runtime 01:54:22

Info for Handel: Imeneo, HWV 41

Fabio Biondi signs his fifth release on Glossa with a further opera exploration, here with Europa Galante and providing a vital interpretation of Handel’s late opera Imeneo, given in its serenade- style 1742 Dublin version.

If, by this date, the London public was tiring of the Italian opera in which Handel had been excelling for decades, and the composer was now turning both to the oratorio and in the direction of the galant style, he was still able to call upon divos and divas of the quality of La Francesina and Giovanni Battista Andreoni to perform his music. Though not a success in its Lincoln’s Inn Fields staging in London, Imeneo was performed by Handel as his only Italian work during his season in Dublin (which also saw the first performance of Messiah), complete with additional arias to add to those praised in 1740 and a pruning of the libretto (which hadn’t received approval).

The revised story turns on Tirinto (Ann Hallenberg in Biondi’s modern-day production, as performed at the Handel Festival in Halle) pining for his beloved and kidnapped Rosmene (Monica Piccinini). Her liberation by Imeneo (Magnus Staveland) leads to Rosmene being required to decide which of the two Athenians to wed. Hymen – as Handel’s work was known in Dublin – was the god of marriage, and so, will love overcome duty and reason or not? Fabio Biondi, directing from the violin, brings all his own experience in both Italian music and music from the eighteenth century in delivering a stunning vindication of an unfairly neglected Handel opera.

Europa Galante
Fabio Biondi, violin & direction

Europa Galante
was founded in 1990 by violinist Fabio Biondi, who was wanting to form an Italian period instrument ensemble to perform both Baroque and Classical era repertoire.

The ensemble has a varying structure and often performs chamber music such as the string sonatas of Italian composers of the 17th century, 18th century operas by Handel, Vivaldi and others, operas, serenatas and oratorios by Alessandro Scarlatti as well as giving considerable attention to the instrumental music of Antonio Vivaldi. Europa Galante collaborates regularly with the Fondazione Santa Cecilia in Rome in rediscovering and restoring 18th century Italian operas.

Europa Galante has performed in many of the world’s major concert halls and theatres including La Scala in Milan, Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, Lincoln Center in New York and the Sydney Opera House. The ensemble has toured throughout Australia, Japan, Europe, Canada, Israel, the USA and South America.

In addition to the ensemble’s extensive series of recordings for labels such as Opus 111 and Virgin Classics, which have gained many awards from critics (including two Grammy nominations), Europa Galante has now started making recordings for Glossa; Il Diario di Chiara, with 18th century string music from La Pietà in Venice, is the first of an exciting series of projects agreed with the label.

Europa Galante is the resident orchestra of the Fondazione Teatro Due in Parma.

Born in Palermo, Fabio Biondi began his international career at the age of twelve, performing his first solo concert with the RAI Symphony Orchestra. Spurred on from an early age by an inexhaustible cultural curiosity, Fabio Biondi was introduced to many of the pioneers of the new approach to Baroque music, an opportunity that was to expand his musical vision and change the direction of his career. When he was sixteen, he was invited by the Musikverein of Vienna to perform Bach’s violin concertos. Since then, he performed with many of the most prestigious Baroque ensembles before founding Europa Galante in 1990. In just a few years, this ensemble became the most internationally renowned and awarded Italian performers of Baroque music.

Fabio Biondi embodies the perpetual pursuit of style free from dogmatism and he remains intent in his quest for the original language. As well as performing mainstream repertoire, he has exhumed numerous works by lesser known composers, covering three centuries of music, from the 17th century, via the great instrumental works of the 18th century, the concerti and concerti grossi of Vivaldi, Corelli, Locatelli or Geminiani, to the oratorios, serenatas and operas of Alessandro Scarlatti, Handel, Vivaldi, Veracini or Bellini, as well as performing the sonatas of Bach, Schubert and Schumann.

Fabio Biondi also collaborates as soloist and conductor with a wide range of orchestras including the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, The English Concert, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Oper Halle, the Zürcher Kammer Orchester, Det Norkse Kammerorkester, the Orchestre National Montpellier and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, to name but a few. Since March 2005 Fabio Biondi has taken on the role of artistic director for Baroque music at the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra. In 2011 he was elevated to the position of Academician of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and in 2013 received the Keys to the Polish city of Kraków.

As a chamber musician Fabio Biondi performs in duo with piano, harpsichord or forte-piano in prestigious venues around the world including the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Hogi Hall in Tokyo, the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid and the Wigmore Hall in London.

Fabio Biondi plays on a violin by Andrea Guarneri (Cremona, 1686), as well as a 1766 Carlo Ferdinando Gagliano, formerly owned by his teacher Maestro Salvatore Cicero and kindly lent to him by the Salvatore Cicero Foundation in Palermo.

Booklet for Handel: Imeneo, HWV 41