This leading baroque ensemble revives Handel's sparkling comic cantata, unearthing the origins of his operatic masterpieces. Little is known about the genesis of Handel's early comic cantata Clori, Tirsi e Fileno, but the score was mined for a number of hits in his more well-known operas. Who better to bring this once neglected comedy to fizzing life than the dynamic Dunedin Consort and their incisive Music Director, John Butt. Clori, Tirsi e Fileno tells the pastoral tale of an indecisive shepherdess whose wavering affections drive both her suitors away, proving that love doesn’t always flourish - sometimes it fades before it even begins. A light-hearted romp through the mores of its time, it concludes with a playful trio, Vivere e non amar (To live and not to love’). Sharp-eared listeners will find echoes in Handel's Rodrigo and Acis and Galatea but hearing this witty cantata in its full is a rare and revelatory treat. Handel Clori, Tirsi e Fileno John Butt Director Julie Roset Soprano Nardus Williams Soprano Reginald Mobley Countertenor Sung in Italian with English surtitles