Conversazioni I presents a programme of baroque pieces reflecting the patronage of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, a well-connected young Venetian related to Pope Alexander VII who chose to indulge his passion for music through copious commissions of Albinoni, Handel, and both Scarlattis.

Countertenor Andrew Radley is both swoonsome and stately, depending on the material: the somewhat melancholy progress of Albinoni's "Senza il core del mio bene", for instance, befitting a love plaint of such wretched torment, while a more playful involvement suits Handel's "Vedendo Amor", with its tortuous tale of mythic enslavement by Cupid.

DOWNLOAD THIS Senza il core del mio bene; Vedendo Amor; Toccata; Capriccio