London Early Opera continue their new series of Handel’s works with the second volume of pieces composed in Italy. Both volumes of Handel in Italy explore the young composer’s Italian years through his cantatas, sacred pieces, operatic works and instrumental compositions. Handel wrote prolifically during his stay in Italy, his output includes oratorios, operas, sonatas, instrumental works and sacred vocal masterpieces including over 100 cantatas. Featuring performances from internationally acclaimed soloists, the sopranos Sophie Bevan and Mary Bevan with their uncle, baritone Benjamin Bevan conducted and conceived by Bridget Cunningham.

London Early Opera perform a unique programme of Handel’s Italian-inspired works, devised by conductor Bridget Cunningham and featuring a unique family collaboration from from world-renowned soprano sisters Sophie Bevan and Mary Bevan alongside their uncle, bass Benjamin Bevan.

Handels Queens features some of the most exquisite pieces of music written by G.F. Handel and his contemporaries for the two finest singers of the eighteenth century, Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni. Often wrongfully framed as rivals, these dazzling new recordings with Mary Bevan and Lucy Crowe reveal the distinctive yet versatile talent of the Italian vocalists. Led by London Early Opera Director, Bridget Cunningham, Handels Queens serves an example of the groups dedication to imaginative programming and outstanding period performance, placing them at the forefront of baroque research.

Each new Handel release by The English Concert and Harry Bicket is a milestone in the composer’s discography, and the latest, Serse – ‘a spectacular treat for Handel lovers’ (The Times) – is no different. Created to astonish London audiences in 1728, Handel’s romantic and at times comic opera Serse is a spectacular drama of love, war, power and civil engineering set in ancient Persia, whose opening aria ‘Ombra mai fu’ remains an enduring favourite. Serse rules a vast empire, but the human heart is more difficult to command, and sometimes the beauty of a plane tree is the only constant in a dangerous world. The work is complemented by a world-class cast including the ‘barnstorming’ (The Daily Telegraph) Emily D’Angelo as the lovestruck king and Lucy Crowe as Romilda.

Thomas Arne’s opera The Judgment of Paris (1742), a setting of William Congreve’s libretto of the same name, is known only from the printed score, but in this world premiere recording is performed with panache and authority by The Brook Street Band and a scintillating young cast led by sopranos Mary Bevan (Venus), Susanna Fairbairn (Pallas) and Gillian Ramm (Juno), with tenors Ed Lyon as the shepherd Paris and Anthony Gregory as Mercury, all under the expert direction of conductor John Andrews.

London-based early music group L'Avventura announces the launch of their debut CD, a unique collection of previously unrecorded music by Handel. Fighting the deluge of re-recordings and re-issued CDs in this Handel anniversary year, Opella Nova Records is pleased to present a new group with a completely different take on the venerated composer. The playful, eminently-listenable Handel in the Playhouse is the debut album of new early music ensemble L'Avventura London, directed by Zak Ozmo, and is based on new musicological research. Consisting mainly of previously unheard English playhouse music composed by Handel, the recording is perfectly timed to coincide with the anniversary of the composer's death.

Each new Handel release by The English Concert and Harry Bicket is a milestone in the composer’s discography, and the latest, Serse – ‘a spectacular treat for Handel lovers’ (The Times) – is no different. Created to astonish London audiences in 1728, Handel’s romantic and at times comic opera Serse is a spectacular drama of love, war, power and civil engineering set in ancient Persia, whose opening aria ‘Ombra mai fu’ remains an enduring favourite. Serse rules a vast empire, but the human heart is more difficult to command, and sometimes the beauty of a plane tree is the only constant in a dangerous world. The work is complemented by a world - class cast including the ‘barnstorming’ (The Daily Telegraph) Emily D’Angelo as the lovestruck king and Lucy Crowe as Romilda.

Following the widespread critical acclaim of their debut recording, 'Alexander’s Feast', Ludus Baroque brings their celebrated verve to Handel's 'Song for St Cecilia’s Day'. Coupled with his miniature cantata for tenor, 'Look down Harmonius Saint', which Handel wrote to supplement performances of 'Alexander's Feast', and with the Concerto Grosso in B flat, written in his fruitful autumn of 1739, Handel approaches the setting of this second text by John Dryden with the same extraordinary vividness of detail and metrical virtuosity as Alexander’s Feast.

Countertenor Tim Mead leads an all-star cast in the Early Opera Company’s recording of Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula, conducted by Christian Curnyn. The opera was first performed in London in 1715, in the first season under the reign of George I, in the King’s Theatre on the Haymarket. The complex, twisting plot features lovers Amadigi and Orianna, imprisoned by the sorceress Melissa (who wants Amadigi’s love). Amadigi’s ally Dardano turns against his friend when he realises his love for Orianna (with whom Dardano is in love) and sides with Melissa. Her plans are repeatedly foiled, and true love triumphs at the final curtain! Amadigi is considerd the finest of his early London operas in terms of musical sophistication, theatrical pacing, and a perfectly balanced exploration of the interconnected relationships, motivations, and emotional divergences among just four dissimilar yet equally arresting characters.

Soprano Mary Bevan writes: “In 1975, the original Bevan Family Choir released their debut album on vinyl, featuring an eclectic programme of sacred choral works, Welsh folk songs, and piano music."

On their third disc for Delphian, Ludus Baroque and five stellar soloists bring to life Handel's rarely-heard final oratorio The Triumph of Time and Truth - a remarkable Protestant re-casting of a work written fifty years earlier to a text by the young composer's Roman patron Cardinal Pamphilj. The work, neglected by centuries of scholarship on account of its hybrid origins, here proves an extraordinary feast of riches, and the ideal vehicle for Richard Neville-Towle's carefully assembled cast of exceptional soloists, vigorous, intelligent chorus and an orchestra made up from some of the UK's leading period instrumentalists.

This exceptional recording gathers the finest young vocal talents in a unique program of songs by Sullivan, many of them very rarely recorded. Currently widely acclaimed for key operatic title roles in the UK and abroad, the ""deeply touching, outstanding"" (The Guardian)soprano Mary Bevan, the ""elegant yet intense, impeccable"" (The Guardian) tenor Ben Johnson, and the ""increasingly impressive"" (The Financial Times) bass-baritone Ashley Riches - who here appears on Chandos for the first time - span fifty years of Arthur Sullivan's large non-operatic vocal output. They are accompanied by the UK pianist David Owen Norris, who regularly appears in highly praised concerto performances at the BBC Proms. This album continues to celebrate the Shakespeare anniversary but also presents a wide variety of poets, drawing on texts from a vast range of sources, through the voices of today's greatest rising stars.