Various - CHILL WITH HANDEL

Chill with HandelBorn in the German town of Halle in 1685, Handel studiedbriefly at the University of Halle before moving to Hamburg in 1703, where heserved as a violinist in the opera orchestra and subsequently as harpsichordistand composer. He spent from 1706 until 1710 in Italy, where he furtherdeveloped his mastery of Italian musical style. Appointed Kapellmeister to thefuture George I of England, he visited London, where he composed the firstLondon opera Rinaldo in 1710 and settled there two years later. He enjoyedaristocratic and later royal patronage, and was occupied largely with thecomposition of Italian opera with varying financial success until the 1740s. Hewas successful in developing a new form, English oratorio, which combined the musicalfelicities of the Italian operatic style with an increased role for the chorus,relative economy of production and the satisfaction of a  religious text in English, elementsthat appealed to the English Protestant sensibilities of the time. In London hewon the greatest esteem and exercised an influence that tended to overshadowthe achievements of his contemporaries and immediate successors. He died inLondon in 1759 and was buried in Westminster Abbey in the presence of some 3000mourners.Track 1           Apollo e Dafne: Felicissima quest'alma (Most blest is thissoul) Apollo e Dafne was completed after Handel's arrival inHanover in 1710, to take up his appointment as Kapellmeister to the Elector.The instrumentation is more colourful than usual with a flute, a pair of oboesand a bassoon added to the usual strings. The plot opens with the god Apollobasking in the limelight having just released Greece from the menaces of afearful python. He boasts that even Cupid's archery is no match for his bow andarrow. He is soon proved wrong when he spies the lovely Dafne and is instantlysmitten with her - she however very sensibly rejects him and eventually she isonly able to resist his clutches by turning herself into a laurel tree. Thearia Felicissima quest'alma appears near the beginning of the work, as Apollofirst sees Dafne while she praises the joys of freedom.            Ifyou enjoyed this aria, you may wish to explore the whole work:            8.555712       Apollo eDafne                         OlgaPasichnyk, Robert Pomakov, European Union Baroque                                               Orchestra,Roy GoodmanTracks 2, 10 & 16    The Messiah: Pifa; I know that my Rede