Georg Friedrich Händel: Alcina

Under baroque-pioneer conductor Alan Curtis, the sorceress Alcina bewitches as never before for Handel year 2009. Alan Curtis, lauded by Opera as “one of our finest conductors of Baroque opera,” illumines Handel’s masterpiece, Alcina, by casting, as heroine, the brilliant Joyce DiDonato. Since Alcina is historically dared by virtuosic sopranos like Sutherland and Battle, this innovative recording with a mezzo is a must-have not just for Alcina freaks but all who adore sensational vocalism. As Handel did in his time, Curtis arrays our era’s finest Baroque singers – such as Maite Beaumont and Karina Gauvin – in supporting roles around his star

mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato brings firebrand fioritura (vocal embellishment), impeccably naturalistic recitative and an inimitable everywoman pathos to the soprano title-role. — BBC Music Magazine, June 2009