Arias by Monteverdi, Cavalli, Lully, Charpentier, Rameau, Purcell, Handel, Broschi, Giacomelli, Graun, Dauvergne, Keiser, Telemann and Gluck

Harmonia Mundi HMX2908537/38

Maria Bayo, Efrat Ben Nun, Maurice Bevan, Danielle Borst, Howard Crook, Lucy Crowe, Lynne Dawson, Jill Feldman, Bernarda Fink, Vivica Genaux, Sunhae Im, Inga Kalna, Guillemette Laurens, Claron McFadden, Bejun Mehta, Agnes Mellon, Miah Persson, Nicolas Rivenq, Jennifer Rivera, Dorothea Roschmann, Andreas Scholl, Roman Trekel, Janet Williams

Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, Concerto Koln, Concerto Vocale, Freiburger Barockorchester,Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, David Bates, William Christie, Alfred Deller, Philippe Herreweghe, Rene Jacobs

This double album invites you on a guided tour of the world of Baroque opera, from its origins in the early 17th century to its decline at the end of the Enlightenment. From recitar cantando to the da capo aria by way of French tragédie lyrique, the leading exponents of the genre will lead you into a dizzying spiral of vocal exploits illustrating all the human passions. Absolutely irresistible! Includes arias from: L’Orfeo, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, L’incoronazione di Poppea, La Callisto, Armide, Médée, Les Indes Galantes, Castor & Pollux, Dido & Aeneas, King Arthur, Agrippina, Rinaldo, Serse, Idaspe, Merope, Tolomeo, Il pastor fido, Sosarme, Orpheus, Cleopatra & Desare, Croesus, Les Troqueurs, Orfeo ed Euridice.