Haendel: Il Duello Amoroso

1	Amarilli Vezzosa (Daliso
2	Amarilli Vezzosa (Daliso
3	Amarilli Vezzosa (Daliso
4	Amarilli Vezzosa (Daliso
5	Amarilli Vezzosa (Daliso
6	Amarilli Vezzosa (Daliso
7	Nel dolce tempo, cantata,
8	Nel dolce tempo, cantata,
9	Vedendo Amor, cantata, fo
10	Vedendo Amor, cantata, fo
11	Vedendo Amor, cantata, fo
12	Trio sonata for flute/vio
13	Trio sonata for flute/vio
14	Trio sonata for flute/vio
15	Trio sonata for flute/vio
16	Mi palpita il cor, cantat
17	Mi palpita il cor, cantat
18	Mi palpita il cor, cantat
Haendel: Il Duello Amoroso
1.	Amarilli Vezzosa (Daliso ed Amarelli) (Il Duello Amoroso), cantata for soprano, alto, 2 violins & continuo, HWV 82 24:53
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by Andreas Scholl, Accademia Bizantina and Hélène Guilmette
2.	Nel dolce tempo, cantata, HWV 135 10:32
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by Andreas Scholl and Accademia Bizantina
3.	Vedendo Amor, cantata, for alto & continuo, HWV 175 13:01
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by Andreas Scholl and Accademia Bizantina
4.	Trio sonata for flute/violin, violin & continuo in B minor, Op. 2/1, HWV 386b 11:21
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by Andreas Scholl and Accademia Bizantina
5.	Mi palpita il cor, cantata, HWV 132 12:25
	Composed by George Frideric Handel
	Performed by Andreas Scholl and Accademia Bizantina

All Music Guide

Harmonia Mundi's release features four secular cantatas and a trio sonata Handel wrote during his sojourn in Italy during his early twenties. The cantatas range from the mini-opera "Il duello amoroso" or "Amarilli vezzosa," which depicts a shepherd's vain courting of a resisting nymph, to solo works in which a narrator describes similar pastoral stories, most of which also end in rejection. In "Il duello amoroso," soprano Hélène Guilmette joins countertenor Andreas Scholl, and their charming banter leaves the listener saddened that the shepherd's suit was so dismally unsuccessful. Guilmette's voice is pure and sweet, and her singing is persuasively dramatic. Scholl's voice is slightly veiled and white-sounding and has less of the clarity and sensuality that some of the finest countertenors, such as Philippe Jaroussky, possess. His singing is impeccably musical, though, and he has a fine and subtle sense of drama that breathes life into these cantatas. The listener's preference for a particular countertenor's timbre is very much a matter of personal taste, and the overall musicality of Scholl's performance may be entirely compelling for some listeners. Accademia Bizantina, led by Ottavio Dantone, provides the singers with immaculate and dramatically apt accompaniment, and the group shines when it takes center stage in the trio sonata. Harmonia Mundi's sound is characteristically warm, clean, and intimate, with good balance between the singers and instruments. Stephen Eddins

Gramophone

[Scholl] sings with all his customary liquid beauty of tone...eloquence of phrase and expressive immediacy.... [A] delectable recital. Richard Wigmore

Time Out New York

Scholl brings emotional depth to these cantatas, whose graceful Italianate melodies are masterfully handled by Ottavio Dantone. Stacey Kors

Philadelphia Inquirer

Scholl remains one of the most natural-sounding, all-around appealing countertenors.... Rarely do you hear [this music] in such an attractive package. David Patrick Stearns

San Francisco Chronicle

The wonderful German countertenor Andreas Scholl nips through four [cantatas], singing with an exquisite blend of vigor, clarity and emotional directness. Joshua Kosman