Catalogue # CDA67924

British countertenor Iestyn Davies is one of the fastest rising stars on the concert and opera circuit. Following his highly acclaimed recording of Porpora cantatas, he returns for a second solo album with Hyperion, a selection of arias written for Gaetano Guadagni. Italian-born Guadagni was the first ‘modern’ castrato, famed all over Europe for the lyric purity of his voice and his powerful, naturalistic acting style. Not only did he enjoy a close artistic relationship with Handel, who nurtured Guadagni’s voice to fit the alto roles in his English oratorios, but he effectively created the role of Orpheus in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, an opera he thoroughly made his own. Here, Iestyn Davies is joined again by the renowned period-instrument band Arcangelo, directed by Jonathan Cohen.

Arne:
Vengeance, O come inspire me! (from Alfred)

Bach, C P E:
Symphony No. 1 in D major, Wq 183/1

Gluck:
Ah! Non turbi il mio riposo
Orfeo ed Euridice (Orphée et Euridice): Dance of the Blessed Spirits
Ahimè! Dove trascorsi? (from Orfeo)
Che faro’ senza Euridice? (from Orfeo ed Euridice)

Guadagni:
Pensa a serbarmi, o cara

Handel:
Saul: O Lord, whose mercies numberless
The raptur’d soul (from Theodora)
The Choice of Hercules: Yet can I hear that dulcet lay
Destructive War, thy limits know (from Belshazzar)

Hasse, J A:
Ah che dissi, infelice! (from Didone Abbandonata)
Se resto sul lido (from Didone Abbandonata)
Odi colà la frigia tromba? (from Didone Abbandonata)
A trionfar mi chiama (from Didone Abbandonata)

Smith, J C:
Say, lovely Dream! (from The Fairies)

Iestyn Davies (countertenor)
Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen