Gala Concert with Andrea Marcon and Julian Prégardien: Handel's Arias for Francesco Borosini
Works by F. M. Veracini and G. F. Händel // Musical direction: Andrea Marcon // Soloist: Julian Prégardien (tenor) // La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basel
Following the concert, the 2021 City of Halle Handel Prize will be presented belatedly to Andrea Marcon by the Handel House Foundation. This prize is an honorary award with no monetary value. The laudatory speech will be delivered by Dirk Schümer.
50, 35, 25 €
In today’s performance, the tenor register is closely associated with the figure of the hero, the most important person on the opera stage. In the 18th century this was far from the case: the principal male roles in Italian-style opera seria were nearly always taken by the higher voices, by castrati and sometimes even by female singers. The tenor voice often took second or even third place on the stage. However, for good tenors Handel also wrote some remarkable operatic roles. The most notable example is the 1725 version of Giulio Cesare, in which Handel rewrote the role of Sesto, originally written for a female singer playing a male character, for the famous tenor, Francesco Borosini. Sung by the internationally sought-after Julian Prégardien, whose understanding of musical and textual structure is unparalleled, the concert features rarely heard virtuoso tenor arias by G. F. Handel. As an opera singer he has performed at the Festival d’Aix en Provence, at the Hamburg and Bavarian State Opera, at the Opéra Comique in Paris and at the Salzburg Festival. In Halle he will be joined by La Cetra Barockorchester Basel conducted by Handel Prize winner Andrea Marcon, both of whom have already made several acclaimed appearances at the Handel Festival.