Amore e Morte dell’Amore

You know the score. The words tell it all: "hopes cut short," "cruel beauty," "the bonds of faithful love". The 10 duets collected here (by Monteverdi, Benedetto Marcello, Handel, Lotti and Durante) tell of frustrated desire and thoughts of death. The manner is mostly pained and at the same time agonisingly sensual. But Handel's Tanti strali manages to blaze, courtesy of a metaphor about shooting stars, and his Sono liete, fortunate ends the disc on a genuinely upbeat note. Roberta Invernizzi and Sonia Prina marry the depths of feeling and the necessary vocal acrobatics with a consistently gratifying beauty of tone. And, for complete contrast, there's a chamber sonata by Domenico Scarlatti. url.ie/8fjv