Handel
arrived in Rome in 1706, when he was 21, and it was there that he began to stand out from the pack of young composers building on the innovations of the Italian Baroque. His Roman works are certainly not unknown, but they are somewhat neglected in comparison with the early works of
Bach
, with some of which they share a certain extreme quality. Hear the striking ending to the secular cantata
Era e Leandro, HWV 150
; instead of a big aria,
ends with an accompanied recitative matter-of-factly narrating a suicide, with devastating effect. This 2024 release from the young soprano
Nardus Williams
and the
Dunedin Consort
, under conductor
John Butt
, exploits
's early style ideally, and it made classical best-seller lists in the autumn of 2024.
traveled in high circles in Rome, working for well-placed individuals in the Papal States (who were more secular than might be supposed) and other city-states, and he had excellent female voices and some castrati at his disposal.
Williams
' fiery, edgy voice gives an idea of the excitement this music must have generated in its own day. There are three secular cantatas, with a variety of moods, plus a movement from the chamber oratorio
Il trionfo del Tempo de del Disinganno
. Hear
right off in the aria "Emplo mare, inde crudeli," from
Ero e Leandro
, or check out the intense soprano-gamba duet "Tra le fiamme tu scherzi per gioco," from
Tra le fiamme, HWV 170
. There is a really commanding presence throughout that marks the emergence of a star. Other draws include close coordination between
and
Butt
's
, born of frequent performances of this music in concert, and some intriguing philosophical notes from
in the booklet for physical album buyers. There are no world premieres here, but this is an album that will have a lot of people listening anew to the young
. ~ James Manheim