London’s Vauxhall Gardens in the 18th century was not just a theme park of elegant fun, but a home of sophisticated artistic experiment. Handel’s music found a natural home in these outdoor entertainments, so following their successful series Handel in Italy, London Early Opera have begun a new series on Vauxhall with an attractive potpourri by Handel and others. These bright, lively accounts of music which we know was heard at Vauxhall include an aria from Acis and Galatea and a fine John Hebden concerto, and to close, the glorious duet As steals the morn from Handel’s L’Allegro which has again, in recent years, become a hit number.
