Handel’s roles composed for the Parmesan soprano Francesca Cuzzoni (1696-1778) have already been the subject of recital albums by artists as dissimilar as the limpid Lisa Saffer (Harmonia Mundi, 12/91) and the firebrand Simone Kermes (Berlin Classics, 8/09). The emulation of the concept by up-and-coming French-Moroccan singer Hasnaa Bennani is permissible because it compares a range of dramatic situations such as the candid intimacy of Teofane’s bitter disappointment in ‘Falsa imagine’ (Ottone) and the feisty coloratura of Berenice’s defiant ‘Scoglio d’immota fronde’ (Scipione), and such polar opposites sit attractively alongside beloved favourites for Cleopatra (‘Se pietà di me non senti’) and Rodelinda (‘Ombre, piante’).

Almost all of Cuzzoni’s roles in Handel’s operas are represented aptly, from the turbulent jealousy of Lisaura’s ‘No, più soffrir non voglio’ (Alessandro) to Seleuce’s lilting minuet ‘Torna omai la pace all’alma’ (Tolomeo). Bennani’s nuanced phrasing and intelligent embellishments suggest a singer of real talent, although there is not always a vivid sense of her truly inhabiting each different character; for example, Asteria’s ‘Non è più tempo’ (Tamerlano) is sung too chastely for the situation of her sarcastic taunting. On the other hand, anguish and lyricism are balanced flawlessly in Laodice’s ‘Or mi perdo di speranza’ (Siroe), which concludes with a wonderfully judicious cadenza. Several overtures and assorted sinfonias are finely etched by the excellent Belgian band Les Muffatti and conductor Peter Van Heyghen; even if it is understandable why they include the Ballo di Larve from Admeto (the beginning of a famous scene for Senesino) on musical grounds, it is a pity that there is no room for any of Antigona’s arias from the same opera, and nor is there anything from Costanza in Riccardo primo.

The running order is sometimes a mite misconceived because moments conveying intense emotional climax are positioned much too early, and elsewhere consecutive depictions of intensity constitute an unyielding distortion of both Cuzzoni’s and Handel’s respective arts; seduction, teasing, happiness and celebration are in short supply. Now that the Handel-centric view has been presented several times over, perhaps an enterprising soprano might attempt to illustrate a broader perspective of Cuzzoni’s career that includes other composers too.