2 CD
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€ 22.95
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Label Signum Classics |
UPC 0635212067925 |
Catalogue number SIGCD 679 |
Release date 04 February 2022 |
This important new recording revisits George Frideric Handel’s monumental Suites de Pièces pour le Clavecin – subsequently known as the Eight Great Harpsichord Suites as well as his Chaconne in G major and some world première recordings of Handel’s superb arrangements of operatic arias and ouvertures which were specially reworked and ornamented by Handel for the harpsichord. The album celebrates the 300th anniversary of the first publication of these works on 14 November 1720.
Bridget Cunningham is an international conductor, prizewinning harpsichordist and musicologist who trained at the Royal College of Music and was awarded a Junior Fellowship to work in the Centre for Performance History and coach singers in the baroque style. Cunningham is also Artistic Director of London Early Opera with a number of critically-acclaimed recordings out on Signum Classics.
Bridget Cunningham is a
prizewinning harpsichordist,
musicologist and an international,
versatile conductor who trained at
the Royal College of Music where
she was awarded a Fellowship.
This celebratory recording is part
of an important larger series of
her albums with Signum Classics
– many of which include world
premiere recordings.
As Artistic Director of London
Early Opera, Cunningham is a
leading exponent of baroque music
and created these outstanding
recordings with many international
singers such as Sophie Bevan, Lucy
Crowe and Mary Bevan, baroque
musicians and historians. Albums
include Handel’s Eight Great
Harpsichord Suites, Handel in Italy,
Caio Fabbricio HWV A9
, Handel at
Vauxhall, Handel in Ireland and
Handel’s Queens which have been
reviewed with international acclaim
and shortlisted for a Gramophone
Award nomination in 2020;
“Handel has never sounded better”
(Handel’s Queens) ★★★★★
BBC Music Magazine, 2019
“Bridget Cunningham is just such
a player... Her feeling for dance
rhythms is infectious and her
ability to entertain unassailable”
(Handel’s Eight Great Harpsichord
Suites) ★★★★★ 5 stars BBC Music
Magazine, 2022
Cunningham’s harpsichord
performances include playing at
the London Handel Festival, Maison
Hine Cognac, Victoria International
Festival, Gozo as well as for the
Royal family at Buckingham
Palace. She has performed at the
Innsbruck Festival, Yale University,
St John’s Smith Square, Teatro Petruzzelli Bari, Handel Hendrix
Museum, St George’s Hanover
Square, the Foundling Museum
and St Martin-in-the-Fields. She
regularly collaborates with baroque
dance groups and has a passion for
combining the artworld with music. Cunningham is a keen advocate
for directing baroque music from
the harpsichord. As well as her
numerous performances including
several of Handel’s operas, Bach’s
Easter Oratorio, Vivaldi’s Gloria and
a 400th anniversary performance of
Monteverdi’s Vespers at Southwark
Cathedral, she has also directed
a world premiere for BBC Radio 4
with London Early Opera written
by a BBC Inspire Young Composer of the Year, Grace Evangeline-
Mason, for the 300th Anniversary
of Handel’s Water Music.
She has appeared on several BBC
Radio and TV broadcasts including
BBC Radio 3 In Tune, BBC 2 Messiah,
BBC 4 Vivaldi’s Women, Radio 4
Front Row and SkyArts, RTE, RTP
and Radio Stephansdom.