Duets, Trios and Ensemble Scenes

Italian opera was at the centre of Handel’s output for over 35 years with solo arias constituting one of the most important elements in Baroque opera. Dramatic roles, with their various moods and reactions, are characterised through arias. A large number of Handel’s operas also contain at least one entire scene for two to three voices. These numbers make use not only of similar lyrical or expressive forms of expression such as the arias, but also employ contrapuntal elements as found in Handel’s chamber music.

Based on the Bärenreiter vocal scores, three volumes were published which contain some of Handel’s best-known arias, duets and trios, together with less well-known numbers of equally high musical quality. The arias are arranged chronologically, reflecting the order in which the operas were composed.

The three volumes: Female roles for high voice (BA 4295) Male roles for high voice (BA 4296) Duets, Trios and Ensemble Scenes (BA 4297)

• Unbeatable collections of Handel’s most beautiful arias and ensembles
• Musical text based on the Urtext vocal scores of the “Halle Handel Edition”
• Detailed foreword (Eng/Ger) by Donald Burrows on Handel’s singers and on the arias in the context of the operas
• Translations of the Italian aria texts (Eng/Ger)