Coloratura Spectacular

This 3 CD set represents the first complete recording on period insruments of Handel's 'Semele'. Written at the peak of Handel's powers, and derisively described at its premiere by one critic as "no oratorio but a bawdy opera", this theatrical entertainment is crammed with Handel's most sparkling music: spectacular orchestral numbers and powerful choruses combine with heart-stopping arias, including the popular 'Where'er you walk'.

Imelda de'Lambertazzi (1830) was written just before Donizetti's first great international success, Anna Bolena, and it remains one of his many operas that has never made it into the repertoire. In his illuminating program notes, Jeremy Commons argues that Imelda was probably Donizetti's most forward-looking, even avant-garde opera; the composer was determined to create music that matched the demands of the drama, and therefore ignored many of the operatic conventions audiences had come to expect. It's no surprise, then, that it was badly received, and has rarely been revived.