Handel came to Italy as a promising, ambitious young composer bursting with talent, and left it as a mature composer, permanently impregnated with the light and the vocal art of Italy. Winter & Winter has entrusted the interpretation of his cantatas from this time to the young Spanish ensemble Forma Antiqva and countertenor Xavier Sabata. They endorse these sublime pieces of music with a rich musicality, a sure sense of style in both recitatives and arias, unlimited tone-colours and a capacity for improvisation that is surely indispensable in Handel cantatas. An delicacy for royal tastes.