I was enchanted by Handel's pastoral cantata Aminta e Fillide when I heard it in this performance on LP last year. The music belongs to Handel's Italian period between 1706 and 1710 and is full of lively invention and engaging melodies. Fillide's waltz-like ''Fiamma bella'' and Aminta's ''Se vago rio'' are irresistible amongst a wealth of well-contrasted arias hardly less so. Gillian Fisher and Patrizia Kwella are on cracking form and both they and the small orchestral ensemble sparkle under Denys Darlow's direction.
As the recorded sound of the LP is clear and, to my ears, almost ideally balanced, the CD offers little if anything of a quality superior to it. In fact it requires a fuller head of steam to produce a similarly lively sound to that of the LP. Prospective buyers are not likely to be disappointed in any way by either issue. Full texts included with both. Strongly recommended.'