Arcadian Dreams: the title conjures pastoral perfection, an idyllic vision rooted in Greek mythology. Equally, it references the Arcadian Academy established in Rome in 1690, a vibrant hub of intellectual and artistic creativity whose influence quickly spread across Europe.

Arcadian Dreams assembles an exquisite group of composers - both esteemed and inspired - including the French luminaries Thomas-Louis Bourgeois, Louis Antoine Lefebvre, and Jean-Philippe Rameau; the Neapolitan maestro Domenico Scarlatti, who lived his last 35 years in Spain; and the German-born George Frideric Handel, whose early Italian career left an indelible mark on his masterpieces.

The enchanting realm of Arcadian Dreams abounds with gods and goddesses, shepherds and nymphs, and bucolic dreamscapes creating an aural tapestry of pictorial, secular cantatas intertwined with entrancing instrumental numbers.

The fearless young soprano Hannah de Priest, making her recording debut, vividly captures the essence of these beguiling works, alongside the entrepreneurial early music ensemble Les Delices whose members bring long-forgotten music alive for contemporary audiences.

JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU (1683–1764)
Le Berger Fidèle
01. Récit: Prest à voir immoler
02. Air Plaintif: Faut-il qu’Amarills périsse?
03. Récit: Mais c’est trop me livrer
04. Air gai: L’Amour qui regne dans vos âme
05. Récit: Cependant à l’autel
06. Air vif et gracieux: Charmant Amour

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685–1759)
Mi Palpita il cor
07. Recit: Mi palpita il cor
08. Aria: Agitata è l’alma mia
09. Recit: Tormento e gelosia
10. Aria: Ho tanti affanni in petto
11. Recit: Clori di te me lagno
12. Aria: S’un di m’adora

TOMASO ALBINONI (1671–1751)
Sonata for oboe & continuo in C major
13. I. Adagio
14. II. Allegro
15. III. Bourlesque
16. IV. Menuet

THOMAS LOUIS BOURGEOIS (1676-1750)
Diane et Endimion
17. Récit: Tandis que fatigué
18. Air: Des plus doux plaisirs
19. Récit: Ah! Dit la tendre soeur
20. Air: Une frayeur mortelle

DOMENICO SCARLATTI (1685–1757) 21. Sonata in d minor, K213

LOUIS LEFEBVRE (1700–1763)
Le Lever de l’Aurore
22. Récit: L’Astre que le silence suit
23. Air leger: L’Olimpe se dore
24. Musette: Jeune Titire, éveillez-vous
25. Récit: Ces amans conduits par l’Amour
26. Air gay: Que vôtre destin à d’appas

Hannah De Priest, the sensational acclaimed performer of a wide range of lyric soprano repertoire, opens her new recording on RAMEAU’s Le Berger Fidèle: The embodied Récit: Prest à voir immoler, the impassioned Air Plaintif: Faut-il qu’Amarills périsse?, the more enforced Récit: Mais c’est trop me livrer, and then comes the engaging Air gai: L’Amour qui regne dans vos âme, the stoically imbued Récit: Cependant à l’autel, rounding out on the flourishing Air vif et gracieux: Charmant Amour.

Along next is HANDEL’s Mi Palpita il cor: The sheer elegance of Recit: Mi palpita il cor, the upbeat and vocally emphatic Aria: Agitata è l’alma mia, the gently fraught Recit: Tormento e gelosia, the decadent Aria: Ho tanti affanni in petto, the set rounding out on the emphatic Recit: Clori di te me lagno and the sumptuously sculpted Aria: S’un di m’adora.

Then we get brought forth ALBINONI’s Sonata for oboe & continuo in C major: The luxuriant Adagio, the sprightly Allegro, then comes the playful Bourlesque, the work rounding out on a dutiful confidence within Menuet.

Along next is BOURGEOIS’s Diane et Endimion: The confident Récit: Tandis que fatigué and then the gently flirtatious Air: Des plus doux plaisirs, the gusto-producing Récit: Ah! Dit la tendre soeur, rounding out on the soaring majesties of Air: Une frayeur mortelle.

Then comes SCARLATTI’s delicately hued Sonata in d minor, K213; which is in turn backed by the final work, that from LEFEBVRE’s Le Lever de l’Aurore: The sterner fare of Récit: L’Astre que le silence suit opens, and then we are gifted the enthusiastic Air leger: L’Olimpe se dore, the demure Musette: Jeune Titire, éveillez-vous, the set, and the new recording, coming to a close on the graceful Récit: Ces amans conduits par l’Amour and the stylishly refined Air gay: Que vôtre destin à d’appas.

LES DÉLICES:
Hannah De Priest, soprano
Debra Nagy, baroque oboe
Shelby Yamin & Kako Boga, violins
Rebecca Landell, cello & viola da gamba
Mark Edwards, harpsichord

De Priest has garnered attention at numerous important competitions, recently winning 2nd Prize at the 2021 International Cesti Competition for Baroque Singing. She has been a finalist in The Handel Aria Competition (2021), Le Concours Corneille (2019), Audrey Rooney Bach Competition (2020), and the Bethlehem Bach Competition (2021). She is also a laureate of the prestigious Luminarts Cultural Foundation’s competition’s Encouragement Award (2022).

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