Café Zimmermann . Céline Frisch

Céline Frisch's Baroque ensemble, Café Zimmermann, takes its name from the famous coffee house in Leipzig, where, at the time of Bach and Telemann, weekly gatherings and concerts were organized for music-loving citizens. Together with the highly lauded Milanese soprano Roberta Invernizzi, Frisch's ensemble is a guarantee of lively and at-the-limit performances of these two Italian cantatas by Handel; in their genre, they are small masterpieces, pearls of character and atmosphere. In 'Agrippina', Handel portrays the emotions of the wife and murderess of the Roman emperor Claudius, after she has been condemned to death by her son, Nero. With 'Armida abbandonata', Handel focuses on the rage of Armida after her rejection by Rinaldo; this is a passionate excerpt from Tasso's 'Gerusalemme liberata' that Handel was later to develop in the opera 'Rinaldo'. Bach was so struck by this cantata that he copied it out. In this programme, these two wonderful cantatas are framed by three trio sonatas. With this fine group of musicians, you're guaranteed an evening on the edge of your seat!