Handel's queens : Cuzzoni & Faustina

"Recording of the month: In this recording, conductor Bridget Cunningham explores the legend of Baroque star sopranos Cuzzoni and Faustina ... Lucy Crowe and Mary Bevan here recreate the two 'prime donne' through their own blazing talents ... Duets illuminate the vocal qualities that period critics say made Cuzzoni and Faustina the perfect dyad. In the cut and thrust of this music, Crowe and Bevan bring out differences between their voices ... While Handel has never sounded better, a distinction of this recording is the quantity and quality of its non-Handelian music, some previously lost and premiered here. Together, Crowe, Bevan and Cunningham have reclaimed these masterworks".