Him Serena

"Rossini's rarely performed Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra was his first opera for the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. With the composer showcasing and indeed recycling some of his best music, it was an enormous success and allowed him to become established as the leading opera composer in Italy. The story revolves around Queen Elizabeth I (Elisabetta), whose romantic attachments expose her to murderous intrigues, and ends with her renouncement of love itself. This fast-moving production under the baton of Antonino Fogliani was described as 'a colourful, sparkling festival of music' in Die Deutsche Bühne."

Quiet. It is such a precious commodity, and more so today than ever before. In this music from accordionist Vincent Peirani and singer Serena Fisseau, you can actually hear it. It’s right there in the gaps between the notes, perhaps almost more important than the notes themselves. This music is irresistibly light and limpid, and often very cheerful too. It draws its intimate feel from the fact that Peirani and Fisseau are not just a couple artistically, but also in real life. They recorded the tracks of "So Quiet" for their children. And for all other children. And also for any adults out there who'd like to take themselves back in their dreams to a temporary state of childlike innocence – for the time it takes to listen to an album.