A beguiling and beautiful l’egisto from versailles

Arias by Caldara, Handel, Monteverdi, Steffani and Vivaldi Hugh Cutting, Carlo Vistoli (countertenor); Les Arts Florissants/William Christie Harmonia Mundi HAF8905347 68:31 mins Les Arts Florissants’s

Robert Thicknesse on Opera TO ANY SENSIBLE ...

Ravel: Ma mère l’Oye; Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps Pavel Kolesnikov and Samson Tsoy (piano) Harmonia Mundi HMM902752 49:20 mins Those of us lucky, as I was at both their Ragged Music Festival and

The Seal Woman: A Celtic Folk Opera Yvonne Howard, Catherine Carby, Catriona Hewitson, Seumas Begg, Arthur Bruce, Christian Loizou et al; Orchestra of Scottish Opera/ John Andrews Retrospect Opera RO0

Nineteenth-century opera is packed with scenes of fiery confrontation, from the red-hot love entanglements in Bizet’s Carmen to the apocalyptic clashes between gods, demigods and humans in Wagner’s Ri

Piano Trios; Piano Quintet, Op. 57* *Julia Fischer (violin),*Nils Mönkemeyer (viola); Oliver Schnyder Trio Prospero PROSP0035 76:52 mins Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet explores a bewildering variety of