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Handel Opera Cycle

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Music: Classical

Music: Classical: Opera

Radio 3 marks the 250th anniversary of Handel's death with a complete cycle of his operas

In 2009, Radio 3 marks the 250th anniversary of the death of George Frideric Handel with a complete cycle of his operas, all broadcast in the order they were first performed

Handel Opera Cycle: Riccardo Primo

Handel Opera Cycle: Riccardo Primo: Episode 1: Riccardo Primo, Acts 1 and 2

Episode 1

Episode 1: Riccardo Primo, Acts 1 and 2

Riccardo Primo

Riccardo Primo, Acts 1 and 2

BBC Radio 3 - Handel Opera Cycle, Riccardo Primo, Riccardo Primo, Acts 1 and 2

Ian Skelly presents Acts 1 and 2 of Handel's opera Riccardo Primo.

Ian Skelly presents Acts 1 and 2 of Handel's opera Riccardo Primo, written for the great castrato Senesino. Plus Kings and Queens: Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 5 in E flat.

Ian Skelly presents Acts 1 and 2 of Riccardo Primo. Written for the great castrato Senesino, Handel's only opera about an English sovereign contains arguably some of his most beautiful and challenging arias.

This version of the story of Richard I or Richard the Lionheart coincided with the coronation of George II - a stroke of good fortune for the astute composer, who revised the opera substantially as homage to the new king. The revised version emphasised the heroic and romantic aspects of George's great predecessor, dramatising his conquest of the island of Cyprus and his marriage to a beautiful Spanish princess.

King Richard I ...... Lawrence Zazzo (countertenor)
Costanza, his betrothed ...... Nuria Rial (soprano)
Pulcheria, daughter of Isacio ...... Geraldine McGreevy (soprano)
Isacio, governor of Cyprus ...... David Wilson-Johnson (bass)
Oronte, Pulcheria's lover ...... Tim Mead (countertenor)
Berardo, Costanza's tutor ...... Curtis Streetman (bass)

Chamber Orchestra of Basel
Paul Goodwin (conductor).

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Paul Goodwin conducts the Chamber Orchestra of Basel in a performance of Riccardo Primo

Paul Goodwin conducts the Chamber Orchestra of Basel in a performance of Riccardo Primo, which tells the story of Richard the Lionheart and his conquest of the island of Cyprus

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Handel Opera Cycle

Riccardo Primo

Episode 1: Riccardo Primo, Acts 1 and 2

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