Nicholas Scott sings 'Tenor' in L’Allegro, il penseroso ed il Moderato at The Festival de Beaune

On Friday July 16th, Nicholas Scott will perform the role of ‘Tenor’ in L’Allegro, il penseroso ed il Moderato at The Festival de Beaune under the musical direction of William Christie.

Nicholas is stepping in last minute for this performance and will join the stage with Soprano Rachel Redmond, Bass Streten Manojlovic and Les arts Florrissants Choir & Orchestra.

Find out more here.

L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato is truly Handel’s most English work and a counterpart to Gainsborough’s poetic landscapes in line with the Romantic sensibility of the time. Handel wrote this work on a text by Jennens inspired by Milton’s two allegorical poems L’Allegro (The Joyful Man) and Il Penseroso (The Contemplative Man) to which he added a third part, Il Moderato (The Moderate Man). The work is a pastoral symphony and an opera at the same time and comparable to Haydn’s The Seasons or Beethoven’s 6th Symphony. The music describes the virtues of nature in an enchanting and imaginative way. L’Allegro is alternately bucolic, carefree, cheerful and spiritual (especially the aria with carillon “Or let the merry bells ring round”) in contrast to Il Penseroso, which is more majestic, ecstatic and visionary (especially the wonderful melody “Hide me from day’s garish eye” and the aria of the nightingale, “Sweet Bird”). Il Moderato features “As steals the morn upon the night”, the most beautiful duet ever written by Handel.