The Czech soprano Magdalena Kozena brings to these Handel cantatas a sense of drama quite out of the ordinary. That is clear at the very start, in the recitative that begins Delirio amoroso, where she invests every word with meaning in her timing and colouring of the notes. But it is most telling, to my mind, in her very fine performance of Lucrezia. In the exceptionally beautiful and tragedy-laden F minor aria, ‘Gia superbo del mio affanno’, she draws a long line, of great intensity, encouraged by Handel’s bold chromatics and his appoggiaturas; and she goes on, in the second aria, taken at a testing speed, to sing with passion and agility. The passacaglia-like aria that follows is equally telling, but the most striking moment falls at the opening of the final number, just six bars of quite heart-rendingly soft singing, as Lucretia faces death (‘Gia nel seno comincia’).
Delirio amoroso, too, has some fine things too. The overture is a bit scurried, and I do feel that the exuberant first aria is by no means improved by the solo violinist’s indulgent (and unimaginatively repetitive) rubato in his lengthy solos – a piece this long, and with so much repeated material, really needs much stricter rhythmic discipline, although his duetting with Kozena is a brilliant piece of musical trapeze. She does well in the difficult ‘Per te lasciai la luce’, high and sustained, with obbligato cello, and in the delightful third aria with recorders (a precursor of ‘Hush, ye pretty warbling quire’). Her voice, which is not free of vibrato but has a pleasant natural ring and vitality, proves equally pleasing in the remaining cantata, Tra le fiamme, another colourful piece, which Minkowski directs with a light touch and Kozena sings with particular athleticism in the final aria, ‘Voli per l’aria’, with the viola da gamba scrubbing away. Three really fine pieces here, then, in performances that show different facets of Kozena’s singing but above all establish her as someone who lives the music and puts it across with real conviction.'