MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Handel: Ah! Mio Cor - Handel Arias

MARBECKS CLASSICAL STAFF PICK 2007

BBC MUSIC - Choral and Song Pick of the Month (Nov 2007)

"Clear away preconceptions and be prepared for one of the most extraordinary vocal displays to have been issued in recent years"
(MusicWeb Recording of the Month Oct 2007)

"The voice that goes straight to the heart"
(The Sunday Times)

Following her best-selling album Lamento, Magdalena Kozená returns to her musical home ground - the world of dramatic Baroque singing - with her first Handel arias album.

Once again Kozená has combined well-known with lesser-known works to create a personal anthology of the most dramatic moments of love, hatred, hope, and desperation. The programme includes arias from Rinaldo, Giulio Cesare, Alcina, and Joshua, among others.

Handel's complex characters and passionate writing are the perfect vehicles for Kozená's unique talent for delivering even the most elaborate emotions through the sheer beauty of her singing. 'The voice that goes straight to the heart' ( The Sunday Times ) takes listeners on an emotional odyssey. Listen for Kozená's heartbreaking rendering of the classical hit 'Lascia ch'io pianga'

The Handel album also brings Kozená's first collaboration with the acclaimed Venice Baroque Orchestra and Andrea Marcon - a superlative grouping and a must-have album for every Handel fan