Soprano Nuria Rial is about to herald the Haydn year in style. Her latest full-length “Haydn Arias for Lugia Polzelli” will shed some musical light on the creative influence of the composer’s longtime muse and features a selection of his so-called “Einlagearien” in her honour. Polzelli was a singer herself (credited as being part of the Eszterházy establishment) and it is rumoured that Haydn not only had an affair, but in fact one or even two children with her. Throughout his life, however, she remained his secret love and Rial’s recording therefore researches whether the music he composed for her will also serve to uncover personal secrets on Haydn’s part or at least lesser-known aspects of his personality. And even though the Einlegearien have been performed in concert before (such as, recently, during the Haydn Festspiele at Eisenstadt), they are all too often sadly neglected, turning the album into an item to watch out for when celebrations and commemorations begin in ernest in January of 2009.
Even though the Haydn year will undeniably have made the realisation of “Haydn Arias for Lugia Polzelli” easier, the decision to record this particular material in no way brands Nuria Rial an opportunist. Specialising in early and baroque music, after all, dealing with his music in her discography was long overdue for the Catalunian Soprano who has turned into a popular favourite for Händel, Mozart and Italian composers like Corselli and Pergolesi alike. For the new album, meanwhile, she has joined forces with one the scene’s most energetic and enthusiastic young ensembles: The “L´Orfeo Baroque Orchestra” under the batton of Michi Gaigg.
“Haydn Arias for Lugia Polzelli” is already the second album of Nuria Rial for Deutsche Harmonia Mundi after she duetted with Lawrence Zazzo on debut record “Duetti Amorosi”.