, featuring countertenor and mezzo-soprano in fine voice, is a new kind of aria collection. The early music group and its director, lutenist , assemble a loose narrative of a love affair out of arias from various operas and oratorios. This works well in at least three ways, one of them being that , living in an age of pastiche opera, would not have found the idea too strange. For another, the idea enables and to avoid the athleticism characteristic of most collections in favor of slow, lyrical duets that were of critical importance in the original operas and oratorios. The chemistry between the two is palpable in a piece like "Thither let our hearts aspire," from Act III of . Moreover, has reached deeply into the songbag, picking pieces from such obscure items as the , and , that even serious Handelians may not have heard. The result is an entirely fresh look at . The inclusion of an original composition at the end by , not at all consistent stylistically with , is a bit much, but that is the end of the list of complaints for this distinctive release that made best-seller lists in late 2022. ~ James Manheim