Un' Alma Innamorata – Händel's Italian Cantatas

The soprano Carolyn Sampson has been a fixed star on the Baroque music sky for a long time. 

In the concert in the Helsinki Old Church, she will perform with Finnish Baroque Orchestra (FiBO) cantatas that Händel composed while he was in Italy as well as charming instrumental music by a father-and-son team, Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti. 

“Giorgio Federico Hendel” (1685-1759) arrived in Rome from Hamburg in the year 1707.  During his three years in Italy, the young musician charmed his audience.

In Rome, Händel found important patrons in the marquis Ruspoli and the cardinal Pamphili. Among Ruspoli’s sopranos was the virtuoso Margherita Durastanti, and Pamphili commissioned music to his librettos. Utilizing the myth of Icarus and Daedalus, Tra le fiamme (around 1708) with text by Pamphili tells a tale about how you shouldn’t follow every flare of the heart. The work demands a certain panache of the soprano, and the colourful instrumentation allows the gamba player to shine. In Alpestre monte (around 1707), a lover forsaken by a nymph finds solace only in death and in the powerful harmonies of the music.

Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) was considered the master of the cantata. He got a lot less commissions for instrumental music, which on the basis of the sonata for flute and violins and the flute concerto is something of a conundrum. Alessandro’s son Domenico (1685-1757) and Händel  took part in a contest between keyboard virtuosos. The sonata by Domenico presents a musician with a profound fantasy.

Carolyn Sampson, soprano
Finnish Baroque Orchestra Players

Old Church

15.1.2023

18.00-20.00

Tickets 10-40€ from Ticketmaster