Serpent & Fire

Description

German soprano Anna Prohaska joins Alpha Classics for several recording projects. This first recital brings together two magnificent queens of Africa - Dido & Cleopatra - and follows them throughout Europe during the first century of opera, from the 1640s to the 1740s. A fireworks display of arias that are at once virtuosic and tragic, composed by the greatest Baroque figures (Cavalli, Handel, Purcell, Hasse) and lesser-known composers to discover like Sartorio, Graupner, or the Venetian Castrovillari. For this program constructed like a tragedy around the Queens of Egypt and Carthage, which Anna Prohaska embodies with the passion and fervor that have made her reputation, she is accompanied by the finest baroque ensembles, Il Giardino Armonico; under the direction of its conductor Giovanni Antonini, they keep us on the edge of our seats throughout the journey.