March 13: Countertenor Randall Scotting Releases New Album Divine Impresario: Nicolini on Stage - Includes Nine Works Recorded for the First Time
Countertenor Randall Scotting Announces New Album
Divine Impresario: Nicolini on Stage
Celebrating the Legendary 18th-Century Castrato
Through Rarely Heard Baroque Repertoire
Including Nine Works Recorded for the First Time
Release Date: March 13, 2026
Signum Classics
www.randallscotting.com | www.signumrecords.com/product/divine-impresario
Review CDs and downloads available upon request.
Internationally acclaimed countertenor Randall Scotting announces the release of Divine Impresario: Nicolini on Stage, out March 13, 2026 on Signum Classics. The landmark album celebrates Nicolò Grimaldi, the castrato who conquered the opera world under the stage name Nicolini (1673 - 1732). Recorded with the Academy of Ancient Music under the direction of Laurence Cummings, with soprano Mary Bevan, the album features rarely performed arias and duets from the early 18th century, nine of which have never been recorded before and have not been heard since Nicolini's lifetime.
While Nicolini is best remembered today for the music Handel wrote for him, including beloved arias from Rinaldo and Amadigi, this album reveals his far broader musical world. For Divine Impresario, Scotting has revived works by a range of composers who wrote for this castrato, drawn to his dramatic range and vocal brilliance, including Francesco Gasparini, Nicola Porpora, Riccardo Broschi, Francesco Mancini, Attilio Ariosti, and Giovanni Antonio Giaj.
Divine Impresario takes its title from Nicolini's unique role as both performer and visionary. “When I think about Nicolò Grimaldi, the word that comes to mind is impresario,” explains Scotting. “Not in the limited sense of a theatre manager, but rather as a creative force who shaped the artform itself. Nicolini wasn't content just to stand and sing; he directed performances, he reworked libretti, and he elevated the standard of acting in opera.”
For Scotting, this project marries his onstage and offstage roles. Sought-after by some of the world's most esteemed opera houses and concert halls, the countertenor’s performances have been described as “expressive” (The New York Times), “rich-toned” (Musical America), “luminous” (Ópera Actual), “ravishing” (BBC Music Magazine), and “flexible and rich” (Early Music Review). His breakout moment came in 2019 at London's Royal Ballet & Opera when he stepped in last-minute for Sir David McVicar's production of Britten's Death in Venice, praised for “singing brilliantly” to sold-out audiences, after which he joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera. In 2023, he created the role of Adone in the world premiere of Venere e Adone at the Staatsoper Hamburg under Kent Nagano, earning praise for a “vocally and physically muscular” performance. He has previously worked with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, Santa Fe Opera, the New York Philharmonic, Italy's Spoleto Festival, Boston Baroque, and Sydney's Pinchgut Opera, among others. He recently made spectacular debuts at the Royal Ballet & Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, and Staatsoper Hamburg, with upcoming debuts at Carnegie Hall and La Fenice in Venice.
Holding a PhD from the Royal College of Music in London, where his dissertation focused on the castrato Senesino and early 18th-century Italian opera, Scotting is also that rare performer who has trained extensively as a scholar – a background that served him well in researching and bringing to life the repertoire he performs here.
After extensive research into Nicolini’s performing career, Scotting sought out manuscripts from archives in England, Belgium, Austria, Germany, and Sweden. Choosing the best of what he found, he then meticulously created modern performing editions for all the music on the album so that it could be performed and recorded.
“For me, stepping into this repertoire is a kind of conversation across time, with Nicolini, but also with the idea of what it means to be an impresario today,” says Scotting. “Like him, I'm drawn to music-making that is dramatically committed. In recording this music, I sought to channel the intensity for which Nicolini was famous and to honor his legacy as the divine impresario: defined by an ambition for opera to be more than just dazzling technique, but also a captivating and emotional experience.”
Born into a poor Neapolitan family in 1673, Nicolò Grimaldi rose to become one of the most celebrated performers of his era. After making his stage debut in Naples at only twelve years old, he rapidly gained fame throughout Italy, eventually being inducted into the Order of Saint Mark’s Cross in Venice in 1705 for his outstanding performances. His reputation soon spread across Europe, and in 1708 he arrived in London with a three-year contract and an extraordinary £1,000 salary (an amount that at that time would have taken a skilled tradesman thirty years to earn).
Nicolini quickly became an international superstar, praised not only for his vocal brilliance but for his exceptional acting. One of the album's highlights is “Mostro crudel che fai?” from Riccardo Broschi's Idaspe, representing the famed lion-fighting scene that electrified London audiences. In Mancini's Idaspe fedele, Nicolini became notorious for slaying a “live” lion onstage in a nude-colored costume – a theatrical spectacle that became one of early 18th-century London's most talked-about moments. The album also includes the delicate and lyrical aria “È vano ogni pensiero” from Mancini's setting of the opera, revealing how Nicolini could, as Scotting puts it in his liner note for the album, “wrestle monsters and still sing with incomparable elegance.”
More about Randall Scotting:
Dramatically persuasive and intensely musical, Randall Scotting is recognized for winning over audiences with his vocal beauty, stylish singing, and charismatic stage presence. He has released several solo albums in recent years, building a growing profile as a recording artist. For his debut album, The Crown, with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment led by Laurence Cummings, he was lauded for "ravishing vocalism" and "impressive beauty and warmth." Signum Classics then released Lovesick, an album of lute and folk songs featuring Scotting and Grammy-award winner and lutenist Stephen Stubbs, widely praised and noted as "not only beautifully sung, but 'lived'." His most recent album, Infinite Refrain, with London's Academy of Ancient Music, offers 17th-century arias and love duets for countertenor and tenor, receiving glowing acclaim as "a vibrantly seductive" and "strikingly beautiful declaration of same-sex love."
Remarkable for the breadth of his artistic curiosity, Scotting delights in defying expectations, from improvising live with Bobby McFerrin at Carnegie Hall to performing with the avant-garde cabaret troupe Company XIV in a blend of opera, folk, and pop music. Trained at London's Royal College of Music, the Juilliard School, and as a Fulbright Scholar at Budapest's Liszt Academy, his scholarly credentials complement his performing career. In 2018 he was awarded a PhD from the Royal College of Music in London for his thesis on the castrato Senesino (Francesco Bernardi) and early 18th-century Italian opera
About Mary Bevan:
Mary Bevan is one of Britain's most celebrated sopranos, equally at home in opera, concert, and recital. During the 2025/26 season, she debuts with the Dutch National Opera in a new Michel van der Aa commission Theory of Flames, sings Pat Nixon in John Adams's Nixon in China conducted by the composer in Rome, and returns to the Semperoper Dresden in Handel's Saul.
In recent seasons she has sung the title role in La Calisto with the Bayerische Staatsoper, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare with Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Morgana in Alcina at Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and Eurydice in Orfeo ed Eurydice for Teatro La Fenice. Her concert appearances have included her Carnegie Hall debut with the English Concert, Haydn's Creation at the Barbican with the Academy of Ancient Music, and Bach's Mass in B Minor at the BBC Proms. She has toured extensively across Europe, Australia, Asia, and the US. Bevan's many releases on Signum Records include Elegy, art song albums, Voyages and Divine Muse, French song album Visions Illuminées, and Handel's Queens. She was awarded an MBE in the Queen's birthday honors list in 2019 and was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in 2025.
About Laurence Cummings:
Laurence Cummings is Music Director of the Academy of Ancient Music and Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música in Porto, and one of Britain’s most exciting exponents of historical performance both as a conductor and harpsichordist. A noted authority on Handel, the Guardian has written that “he now ranks as one of the composer's best advocates in the world. Self-effacing on the podium, faithful above all to the score, he matches Handel's energy and invention with unmistakable lyricism, generosity and dignity.”
Frequently praised for his stylish and compelling performances in the opera house, his career has taken him across Europe conducting productions at Royal Ballet and Opera Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, Opernhaus Zurich, Dutch National Opera, Theater an der Wien, and Gothenburg Opera, working with directors including David McVicar, Christoph Marthaler, Deborah Warner, and Peter Sellars. He is equally at home on the concert platform, regularly invited to conduct both period and modern instrument orchestras worldwide.
His previous collaborations with Randall Scotting include The Crown, Heroic Arias for Senesino with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and Infinite Refrain, Music of Love's Refuge with Academy of Ancient Music, both on Signum Classics.
About Academy of Ancient Music:
Academy of Ancient Music is an orchestra with a worldwide reputation for excellence in baroque and classical music. Using historically informed techniques, period-specific instruments and original sources, they bring music vividly to life in committed, vibrant performances.
Established more than 50 years ago by Christopher Hogwood, AAM has released more than 300 albums to date, collecting countless accolades including Classic BRIT, Gramophone and Edison awards. They are the most listened-to period-instrument orchestra online, with over one million monthly listeners on streaming platforms. AAM recently celebrated their Golden Anniversary with the completion of a landmark project to record Mozart's complete works for keyboard and orchestra, a series described by the Financial Times as having “set new standards.”
Beyond the concert hall, AAM is committed to nurturing the next generation of musicians through their innovative AAMplify initiative, working with music colleges and universities across the UK. AAM holds the position of Associate Ensemble at London’s Barbican Centre and the Teatro San Cassiano, Venice, and Orchestra-in-Residence at the University of Cambridge and The Apex, Bury St Edmunds.
About Signum Records:
Signum Records is a leading British independent label, specialising in classical music. Founded in 1997, Signum boasts a catalogue of over 900 titles collectively streamed over 850 million times and continues to release 40+ new recordings each year by internationally acclaimed artists. Signum works closely with its sister company, Floating Earth, the leading production and engineering specialist service provider in Europe.
Album Track Listing & Credits:
Divine Impresario: Nicolini on Stage
Randall Scotting, countertenor | Mary Bevan, soprano | Academy of Ancient Music led by Laurence Cummings
Release Date: March 13, 2026
Signum Classics
1. *Mostro crudel che fai? from Idaspe [4:34]
Riccardo Broschi (c. 1698-1756) | Venice 1730
2. Porto piagato in petto from Ambleto [3:01]
Francesco Gasparini (1661-1727) | London 1712
3. Sinfonia from Rinaldo | Instrumental [1:02]
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) | London 1711
4. Cara sposa from Rinaldo [10:00]
G.F. Handel | London 1711
5. *Spiegami il tuo desio from Siface [5:55]
Nicola Porpora (1686-1768) | Venice 1726
with Mary Bevan, soprano
6. Oh notte!… Notte amica from Amadigi [4:47]
G.F. Handel | London 1715
7. *Come nave in mezzo all'onda from Siface [5:28]
N. Porpora | Venice 1726
8. *Per te bell'idol mio from Antioco [4:48]
F. Gasparini | London 1711
with Mary Bevan, soprano
9. *È vano ogni pensiero from Idaspe fedele [8:56]
Francesco Mancini (1672-1737) | London 1710
10. Venti turbini from Rinaldo [5:02]
G.F. Handel | London 1711
11. *Nò, non piangete nò from Tito Manlio [4:43]
Attilio Ariosti (1666-1729) | London 1717
12. *Sì, t'intendo o core amante from Tomiri [3:41]
F. Gasparini | London 1709
13. *Questo conforto from Antioco [5:47]
F. Gasparini | London 1712
14. *Pensa se ancor from Mitridate [5:18]
Giovanni Antonio Giaj (1690-1764) | Venice 1729
15. Crudel tu non farai from Amadigi [5:30]
G.F. Handel | London 1715
with Mary Bevan, soprano
*recorded for the first time
Total Time: 78:37
Randall Scotting, countertenor
Mary Bevan, soprano
Laurence Cummings, conductor and harpsichord
Academy of Ancient Music
Recorded: November 18-21, 2024
Location: St Jude On-the-Hill, Hampstead, London, UK
Producer: Nicholas Parker
Audio Engineer, Mixing, and Mastering: Tom Lewington
Assistant Engineer: Alex Sermon
Musical Coaching: Yukiko Oba and Murray Hipkin
Concept, Repertoire Selections, and Performing Editions: Randall Scotting, PhD
Album Booklet, Package Design, Copy Editing, and Photo Editing: Nic Mramer