La nuova musicA | Duet recital

Handel's Lovers: A Recital of Operatic Arias & Duets
Saturday 25 October, 2025
David Bates Conductor/ Director
Mary Bevan MBE Soprano
James Hall Countertenor
7pm
£32 Adult, £40 Balcony, £10 Child
(Booking fee applies)
​The Medieval Hall, Salisbury SP1 2EY
La Nuova Musica present a glorious Handel celebration created exclusively for the Celebrate Voice Festival.

Handel was the greatest showman Europe has ever known. His operas - by turns erotic, desirous, sensual and blissful - are full of pulsating arias written for the finest singers of his age. He paints the complexity and subtlety of his lovers using the voice to express the heights and depths of human experience, placing duets at the moment of climax (be that desire or despair).  They remain some of his greatest treasures.
 
The programme pairs arias and duets from a contrasting selection of Handel’s most famous works.  Together with Salisbury’s own David Bates and La Nuova Musica, we are delighted to welcome Soprano Mary Bevan  and Salisbury-raised Countertenor James Hall - both at the peak of their craft - singing Handel’s powerful and vivid music.

David Bates and La Nuova Musica
 
David Bates is a British conductor whose career is distinguished by his mastery of Baroque and Classical repertoire. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, David initially embarked on a professional singing career before turning to directing/conducting.  David founded La Nuova Musica, a vocal and instrumental group dedicated to reviving and invigorating music of the Baroque and Classical periods.

A recent highlight was a semi-staged performance of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the 2022 BBC Proms, described as “a superbly evocative night” in The Times and “a highly shaped, highly articulated performance, a musical tour de force that filled the hall” in Opera Today. Together with La Nuova Musica, David has made numerous award -winning recordings for Pentatone and Harmonia Mundi. 
 
"One of the most exciting consorts in the early music field" BBC Radio 3
​
Mary Bevan MBE Soprano
 
Praised by Opera Magazine for her “dramatic wit and vocal control”, British soprano Mary Bevan is internationally renowned in baroque, classical and contemporary repertoire, and appears regularly with leading conductors, orchestras and ensembles around the world. She is a winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist award and UK Critics’ Circle Award for Exceptional Young Talent in music and was awarded a MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list in 2019.
 
James Hall Countertenor
 
Renowned for his “outstanding” (the Guardian) “flawless” and “captivating” (the Arts Desk) performances across opera, concert and theatre stages worldwide countertenor, James Hall is known for his distinctive artistry in both baroque and contemporary repertoire and regularly appears with many of the world’s leading ensembles and opera companies.