“This seriously addictive disc should make New Yorkers envy Philadelphia for its sparkling early-music orchestra, Tempesta di Mare. Here, the group’s five expert core players pay handsome tribute to Handel. Soprano Julianne Baird joins them for the Nine German Arias. Highly recommended for lazy Sunday mornings. Four Stars.” Time Out New York, October 4, 2007.
“Several other leading lights of the early music vocal scene have offered strong recordings of these [Handel’s German] arias, but this American version, featuring soprano Julianne Baird with Tempesta di Mare, is ideal. In fact it sets a new standard for historically informed Baroque recordings in the U.S., a country not currently in the forefront of developments in the field. It is respect for the intimate quality of the music that sets this recording apart: Baird has the agility to execute Handel’s ornate vocal lines at a low volume, and the entire group exudes a quiet intensity that’s a perfect match for the nature imagery of the texts. Group co-founder Gwyn Roberts, who has recorded the technically brutal recorder sonatas of Francesco Veracini in the past, is especially noteworthy on recorder and transverse flute, and the sound, recorded in a small college auditorium, effectively conveys the close quarters in which this music would originally have been played; a church recording would tend to lose the directness and inward ecstasy so effectively communicated by Baird and the instrumentalists. Highly recommended all around as a superb examination of Handel’s quieter side. allmusic.com, September, 2007.
Classical CD of the Week: “Baird—a fine American soprano prized for her outstanding contribution to recordings of Handel operas—sings with a delicate timbre. The singing is exquisitely stylish, as is the playing of Tempesta di Mare, who shine in the F major and B minor trio sonatas.” The Sunday Times(London), August 12, 2007.
“For the label Chandos, the very fine baroque ensemble Tempesta di Mare and soprano Julianne Baird offer a program dedicated to the last works that Handel wrote in German, which were never published in his lifetime. Tempesta di Mare is renowned as one of the best in this repertoire, and they play with a flair that justifies their name. With Julianne Baird, who possesses a natural sound and an exceptional musicality, they serve this hedonistic music magnificently.” Abeille Musique (Paris), July 2007.