Fri, 07.08.2026
Handel's Heroines

A queen, a sorceress, and a general's daughter – Cleopatra, Armida, and Almirena are heroines from George Frideric Handel's operas. They display fury, as in the aria "Furie terribile," despair, as in "Se pietà di me non senti," or tearful grief, as in "Lascia ch'io pianga," one of the most famous and moving opera arias of all time. The young Swiss soprano Chelsea Zurflüh, first prize winner of the Geneva International Music Competition and winner of the "SWR Young Opera Stars 2025" competition, delves deep into the souls of these remarkable women and, with her expressive voice and impressive range, transforms their emotions into music. The La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basel will accompany them under Maurice Steger and will itself set strong musical accents with Johann Sebastian Bach's "Brandenburg Concerto No. 4" and recorder concertos in which Steger can be heard as a virtuoso soloist.

Program:
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major

Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello (c. 1690–1758)
Chaconne in A major for two violins and basso continuo

George Frideric Handel (1685–1659)
Aria "Se pietà di me non senti" from the opera "Giulio Cesare"
Concerto in G minor, HWV 396, for recorder, strings and basso continuo

Carl Heinrich Graun (1704–1759)
Aria "No, no di Libia fra l'arene" from the opera "Silla"

– Intermission –

George Frideric Handel
"The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" from the oratorio "Solomon", HWV 67
Concerto in G minor, HWV 396, for recorder, strings and basso continuo
Aria "Furrie terribile" of Armida from the opera «Rinaldo»
Chaconne in G major, HWV 434 for solo harpsichord and strings
Overture to the opera «Rinaldo», HWV 7a
Aria «Lascia ch'io pianga» from the opera «Rinaldo»
Aria «Da tempeste il legno infranto» from the opera «Giulio Cesare»