On April 9th, Ton Koopman will give a world premier concert of a, up until now, unknown cantata by Händel in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam! It is an earlier version of ‘Tu fedel? Tu costante?’, HWV 171 but differs distinctively. The concert will take place in the Zaterdagmiddagmatinee series. This piece will, of course, later on be recorded on CD and released on Challenge Classics!

The unknown cantata was discovered in a manuscript in the private collection of conductor, organ player, harpsichord player Ton Koopman. The piece is identified by the American musicologiss and Händel connaisseur John H. Roberts of the University of California in Berkeley. The piece is an earlier and very different version of 'Tu fedel? tu costante?', HWV 171. Only the aria is the same, the other three aria’s are completely new. So this is a truly new discovered work by the world famous composer! The new piece is now called HWV 171a.

World premier of Händels Cantate ‘Tu fedel? Tu costante?’, HWV 171a, in:
‘Baroque Emotion: TON KOOPMAN AND AMSTERDAM BAROQUE’ | NTR ZATERDAGMATINEE
Het Concertgebouw | Main hall | Amsterdam | Saturday April 9th | 14.15 hours

Full program:
Locatelli - Concerto grosso in Es, op. 7, nr. 6 'Il pianto d' Arianna' Graupner
Cantata 'Wo gehet Jesus hin?' J.S. Bach - Kommt, eilet und laufet ('Oster-Oratorium', BWV 249)
Händel - Cantata ‘Tu fedel? tu costante?’, HWV 171a

With: Yetzabel Fernandez (soprano), Maarten Engeltjes (alto), Tilman Lichdi (tenor), Klaus Mertens (bass), Catherine Manson (violin), Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, conductor Ton Koopman.