La Cetra Barockorchester & Vokalensemble Basel

Julian Prégardien, tenor Andrea Marcon, conductor George Frideric Handel: Concerti grossi & arias for the famous tenor Francesco Borosini from "Giulio Cesare", "Tamerlano" & "Rodelinda" Andrea Marcon will receive the prestigious Handel Prize at the Handel Festival Halle 2023. The recital that La Cetra is preparing for Handel's birthplace on this occasion can also be experienced in Basel. Of course, such a concert must be festive and original. With Julian Prégardien, La Cetra is hosting an internationally sought-after singer whose intelligence in musical and textual interpretation is unparalleled. For this very reason, it is interesting to work with him on a program that is not necessarily evident for Handel and the Baroque period: opera arias for tenor. After all, Handel is known for his collaboration, friendship and quarrels, accompanied by legendary outbursts of rage, with the great castrati of his time or famous prima donnas such as Cuzzoni or Strada del Pò. Tenors, on the other hand, who only rose to become the dominant stars of the opera world in the course of the 19th century, played a far less prominent role at that time. All the more fascinating, therefore, is the encounter with virtuoso arias of Sesto from "Giulio Cesare", which Handel reworked in 1725 for Francesco Borosini, whom he greatly appreciated. Borosini, the first great Italian tenor to perform in England, had arrived in London a year earlier. For this debut, Handel had already conceived the role of Bajazet in the opera "Tamerlano," which still represents an exciting vocal and acting challenge for representatives of this vocal genre today.


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