Handel's Unsung Heroes La Nuova Musica & David Bates

• George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759):
• 1 Handel: Teseo, HWV 9: Ouverture 04:39
• Rinaldo, HWV 7a (Excerpts):
• 2 Handel: Rinaldo, HWV 7a (Excerpts): Marcia 00:52
• 3 Handel: Rinaldo, HWV 7a (Excerpts): Battaglia 01:31
• 4 Handel: Rinaldo, HWV 7a (Excerpts): Or la tromba 03:26
• George Frideric Handel:
• 5 Handel: Alcina, HWV 34: Sta nell' Ircana pietrosa tana 05:58
• Giulo Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17 (Excerpts):
• 6 Handel: Giulo Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17 (Excerpts): Act II Sinfonia 00:33
• 7 Handel: Giulo Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17 (Excerpts): Cieli, e qual delle sfere 00:18
• 8 Handel: Giulo Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17 (Excerpts): Act III Sinfonia 00:51
• 9 Handel: Giulo Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17 (Excerpts): Recitativo. Giulio, che miri? 00:19
• 10 Handel: Giulo Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17 (Excerpts): V'adoro, pupille 04:55
• 11 Handel: Giulo Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17 (Excerpts): Se in fiorito ameno prato 08:04
• George Frideric Handel:
• 12 Handel: Ariodante, HWV 33: Scherza infida 11:27
• 13 Handel: Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, HWV 72: Qui l'augel da pianta in pianta 10:29
• 14 Handel: Rinaldo, HWV 7a (Excerpts): Venti, turbini 03:47
• 15 Handel: Rodrigo, HWV 5: Passacaille 04:24
• 16 Handel: Amidigi di Gaula, HWV 11: Pena tiranna 05:48
• 17 Handel: Agrippina, HWV 6: Se giunge un dispetto 03:19
• Total Runtime 01:10:40

Info for Handel's Unsung Heroes

After their acclaimed recording of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, La Nuova Musica and David Bates expand their PENTATONE discography with Handel’s Unsung Heroes, in which the instrumentalists of Handel’s operas are put centre stage. Traditionally restricted to an “invisible” existence in the orchestra pit, La Nuova Musica’s obbligato instrumentalists – violinist Thomas Gould, oboist Leo Duarte and bassoonist Joe Qiu – are now in the limelight. They will stand as equal partners alongside a world-class line up of soloists – soprano Lucy Crowe, mezzo-soprano Christine Rice and countertenor Iestyn Davies – showing how Handel wrote music as virtuosic and lyrical for his unsung heroes as for their singing counterparts. The album includes arias from Handel masterpieces such as Rinaldo, Giulio Cesare, Agrippina and Ariodante.

La Nuova Musica and its artistic director David Bates are among the most exciting Baroque ensembles of today. Their PENTATONE debut with Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice was both BBC Music Magazine Choice and Gramophone Editor’s Choice in December 2019. Iestyn Davies returns to PENTATONE after having sung the title role in that same release, whereas Lucy Crowe and Christine Rice make their PENTATONE debut.

Lucy Crowe, soprano
Christine Rice, mezzo-soprano
Iestyn Davies, counter-tenor
Alexander Chance, counter-tenor
Thomas Gould, violin
Leo Duarte, oboe
Paul Sharp, trumpet
Roger Montgomery, horn
Joe Walters, horn
Joe Qiu, bassoon
La Nuova Musica
David Bates, direction

La Nuova Musica
was founded by its artistic director David Bates in 2007 whilst in residency at Snape Maltings, with the aim of harnessing the energy that the Baroque demands of its performers as a potent tool in striving to move audiences.

The group was swiftly hailed by BBC Radio 3 as “one of the most exciting consorts in the early music field”. They received the classical nomination at the 2012 South Bank Sky Arts/The Times Breakthrough Awards. In the same year, LNM signed with harmonia mundi USA and their recordings have allowed them to reach an international audience, working with artists including Lawrence Zazzo, Robert Murray, Sophie Junker, Lucy Crowe, John Mark Ainsley and Tim Mead.

Highlights of 2015 were concerts at the inaugural ‘Sagra Musicale Umbra’ in Perugia, Handel’s Israel In Egypt in Salisbury Cathedral and a performance of Acis and Galatea at SJSS – a collaboration with Perfumier Sarah McCartney, which received a 5* review in the Times describing it as “a reading that sparkled from the giddy overture to the consoling final chorus.“. They also gave two concerts at Wigmore Hall, the first with counter tenor Bejun Mehta, hailed by the press as “a wonderfully democratic evening of music making on the highest level”. It was followed by “the hottest ticket in town”, a concert performance of Cesti’s Orontea, where “Bates’ conducting had superb poise, and the cast was impeccable, with not a weak link anywhere” (The Guardian).

2016 sees the release of a new disc for harmonia mundi of Couperin’s Leçons De Ténèbres with Lucy Crowe and Elizabeth Watts and a recording of Pergolesi Stabat Mater and Bach BWV 54 & 170 with Lucy Crowe and Tim Mead.

Concerts include Handel’s Berenice at the Göttingen Internationale Händel Festspiele and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Brighton International Festival with Dame Ann Murray. LNM also made their debut at Salzburger Festspiel, where the concert was hailed by the press as “a great performance, a wonderful evening”. They will return to Wigmore Hall in November with a stellar cast for Cavalli’s La Calisto and round off the year with a Christmas concert at SJSS.

La Nuova Musica is a Baroque ensemble based in London, whose chief desire is to bring the highest standard of musical performance of 17th and 18th century repertoire for the benefit of as wide an audience as possible.

Far from being dead and remote, the music and texts of the Baroque help us in the 21st century to ponder the concerns of human nature in an emotionally truthful way. Coming to us from an age before technical means of communication and enhancement of sound were available, the music’s impact is colourful, sophisticated and visceral.

The energy that the Baroque demands of its performers, is LNM’s most potent tool in striving to move audiences. LNM’s repertoire reflects the chief forms of the period – opera and choral. LNM’s work covers concerts, performance of opera, (either fully or semi-staged), and recording projects in collaboration with the world’s foremost ‘period performance practice’ recording company – harmonia mundi USA.

LNM often hosts pre and post concert conversations with our audiences, open rehearsals, and mounts masterclasses with established opera singers and work with recent graduates from Music Conservatories all over Europe.

We call upon the finest international operatic singers, instrumentalists, and choral singers, with a particular desire to pit experienced musicians along side the latest generation of musicians. Both parties learn from each other and create an electric atmosphere in the rehearsal room. This energy always translates to the concert platform, creating performances of real depth, detail and vivacity.

Booklet for Handel's Unsung Heroes