Claves Record

Georg Friedrich Handel :3 Portraits of Mezzo-Soprano Heroines

Her first album was dedicated to orchestral lieder by Schönberg, Mahler, Berg and Zemlinsky and was released by Claves in 2004 (“Wien 1900”, CD 50-2312); now she is back with her “second offence” but with a completely different repertory: arias for mezzo-soprano taken from Handel’s operas. Maria Riccarda Wesseling, the Swiss singer from the Canton of Grison, has recently earned great popularity, singing at major opera houses under the direction of conductors such as Marc Minkowski, Philippe Herreweghe or Alberto Zedda. And once again she has hit the bull’s eye. She is accompanied by eminent German specialists in Handel’s music, the Lautten Compagney of Berlin; director Wolfgang Katschner was recently awarded the prestigious Handel Prize from the city of Halle. Maria Riccarda Wesseling has chosen three roles portraying heroines in conflict with their fate (Medea from Teseo, Dejanira from Hercules and Zenobia from Radamisto); three sublime female figures filled with such dramatic force that they relegate their soprano “rivals” to subordinate roles!