In June we are delighted to be collaborating with the internationally renowned soloist Ann Hallenberg in a programme that celebrates Handel’s four years in Rome. Culminating in his virtuosic choral tour-de-force Dixit Dominus, the performances at Chateau de Versailles (4 June 2016) and Handelfestspiele Halle (5 June 2016) will include Ann Hallenberg performing the dramatic, but rarely-heard cantata Donna che in ciel.
Ann Hallenberg is one of Europe’s most renowned mezzo-sopranos, applauded for her visionary readings of Baroque music and dramatic operatic performances. Her most recent solo recording, Agrippina, features music by Handel alongside Porpora and Graun, recently won a BBC Music Magazine Award. The Sunday Times commented “The Swedish mezzo has been a leading baroque diva – outstanding in Handel operas – for more than a decade … Hallenberg’s singing both moves and dazzles”.
The programme opens in a spectacular display of instrumental fireworks with Corelli Concerto Grosso in D Major Op.6 No.4 featuring Gabrieli principals Catherine Martin, Oliver Webber and Christopher Suckling as soloists.
