‘Carolyn Sampson comes across spectacularly well on disc. Her beautiful sweet-toned soprano is ideally suited to the baroque repertoire and here, as in the other Hyperion releases such as Handel's Ode to St Cecilia, she excels. The performance is well-integrated, both within the ensemble and between instruments and voice’ (MusicOHM.com)

‘Carolyn Sampson beautifully expresses inward rapture and outward joy, and she is touchingly wistful in 'Süsser Blumen'. She is nicely matched by the violin of Stéphane-Marie Degand, and the spiky tone of Alexandra Bellamy is an extra pleasure in the three oboe sonatas’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘The nine German arias Handel composed … still rank among his best-kept secrets. Barthold Brockes's verses are a pantheistic celebration of God-in-Nature, and Handel responded with music of hedonistic enchantment, from the rapt, wondering Süsse Stille to the laughing ebullience of Das zitternde Glänzen. Always a lovely Handel soprano, Carolyn Sampson sings these arias with her trademark pellucid tone and refined phrasing. She spins a smooth, serene line in the more contemplative numbers, and dances blithely in an aria such as Süsser Blumen Ambraflocken, vying with violinist Stéphanie-Marie Degand in playful coloratura flourishes’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘With her pure, luminous tone, graceful sense of phrase and discerning musicality, Carolyn Sampson gives enchanting performances of music that is essentially about enchantment … Süsse Stille is exquisitely shaped and savoured, with a rapt, confiding pianissimo at the da capo. Elsewhere Sampson perfectly catches the blissful langour of Künft'ger Zeiten eitler Kummer and brings a smiling eagerness to Die ihr aus dunklen Grüften, enhancing the da capo with playful touches of ornamentation’ (Gramophone)

'[The] carefully balanced programme certainly ticks conceptual boxes by presenting samples from almost every possible genre for every major Italian city Handel worked in during his grand tour around Italy from late 1706 until early 1710' (Gramophone)

‘Four top-class soloists in plaintive melodies, fizzing coloratura and touching duets. Academia Montis Regalis is highly regarded for its Baroque interpretations and plays with sophistication’ (Classic FM Magazine)

‘Singing of great beauty and conviction by Roberta Invernizzi … the playing of Academia Montis Regalis is equally responsive, its impassioned approach balanced and supported by their lively nuances and constant attention to the detailed shaping of every phrase … a performance that powerfully communicates the sensuous beauty, rich expressivity and dramatic inventiveness of Handel's early masterpiece’ (Goldberg)

‘The playing of Academia Montis Regalis under Alessandro de Marchi's assured direction is stylish, spirited and affecting … the continuo group is more modest, and more satisfying, than that employed by Emmanuelle Haïm … the recording is spacious yet with pleasing immediacy of impact’ (International Record Review)

‘A wonderfully inventive and exuberant work … Invernizzi's alluring voice is fluent in challenging virtuosity but sweetly pentitent as she rejects Aldrich's somewhat assertive 'Pleasure' … a high point is a quartet combining highly differentiated characters with almost Mozartean skill. Ornamentation and improvisation is highly stylish throughout, and orchestral support polished … altogether thoroughly enjoyable’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘Handel's exuberant first oratorio … its animated, thrilling score brings a delightful humanity to all the philosophical pondering … accomplished, responsive playing and the tempo is always smart. Elsewhere, Roberta Invernizzi's luscious-voiced Bellezza is the undisputed star, impressive in her many fiendish arias’ (The Times)

‘Handel's invention is consistently glorious … with her pure, pellucid timbre and acute response to the text, Roberta Invernizzi eloquently limns Beauty's journey from blithe, carpe diem heedlessness to the grave simplicity of her final prayer’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘Handel's first oratorio … is also his most exquisite. The triumph of time and disillusion … bursts with youthful vitality and virtuosity as it blends a moral-religious allegory with some astute early psychology … Alessandro De Marchi energises his Academia Montis Regalis and some fine soloists into the perfect blend of Baroque dynamism and ethereal beauty’ (The Observer)