Handel's Concerti Grossi contain some of the finest orchestral music of the eighteenth century. The Op. 6 collection brims with a wealth of variety, colour, and dance rhythms - Polish and Pastoral... more

Vivaldi' Griselda, one of more than twenty operas, is based on a story retold in Boccaccio' Il decamerone about the testing of Griselda' patience and virtue by her royal husband through a series of... more

Pepusch' ballad opera Polly, composed in 1729 to John Gay' libretto as a sequel to their highly successful the Beggar' Opera, never reached the stage owing to government censorship. In 1777, Samuel... more

Handel' oratorio Israel in Egypt was written three years before the Messiah and, like the Messiah, is somewhat atypical of the composer' oratorios. Scored for double chorus and an orchestra using... more