Gregynog Festival - Emma Kirkby & London Handel Players

Music for Mrs Arne, an evening at the Pleasure Gardens.

Cecilia Young was born into a musical family in 1711 and had connections with many of the most important musicians in England such as Geminiani, Lampe and her future husband Thomas Arne. According to the Shrewsbury-born music historian Charles Burney, she had a good natural voice and a fine shake [and] had been so well taught, that her style of singing was infinitely superior to that of any other English woman of her time.

Cecilia met Handel in 1734 and he subsequently created several roles for her including Dalinda in Ariodante, Morgana in Alcina, the soprano solos in Alexander’s Feast and the title role in Athalia. She featured regularly with her husband (whose 300th anniversary falls in 2010) at the Vauxhall Gardens, performing music that he had written for her.

This programme features examples of these many roles, interspersed with instrumental music of the time.