Handel: Frondi tenere e belle ... Ombra mai fù (from Serse) (Handel's Largo)

Throughout much of the first half of the previous century, entertainer Harry Lauder was, in the words of Winston Churchill, ‘Scotland’s greatest ever ambassador!’ In the following years, Scotland’s next ‘greatest ever ambassador’ (if not Sean Connery!) must have been Kenneth McKellar, who was born in 1927, the son of a grocer, in the Scottish town of Paisley.

From 1959–60 he recorded a series of Handel arias for Decca, with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. Some were issued on an EP and later the entire collection was brought out on an LP. In 1961 he went into the recording studios, again with Boult, for more Handel, this time with the LSO and Chorus, to sing the tenor part in Messiah alongside Joan Sutherland, Grace Bumbry and David Ward.

Collected here are all the arias from the first record, supplemented with additional arias from Messiah. ‘Thy rebuke … Behold and see’ was recorded during the Messiah sessions as an alternative take to the soprano version (Joan Sutherland eventually sang it in the complete recording) and never issued on LP (it first appeared as an appendix to the Decca Eloquence reissue of this complete Boult Messiah). ‘Comfort ye … Ev’ry valley’ comes from the earlier Handel Arias sessions, and receives its first international release on CD.

McKellar died, shortly after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, in 2010, while visiting his daughter Jane in the United States. He is buried in Paisley. It is gratifying that his artistry is being rediscovered by a new generation of listeners.

In this double album, the greatest vocal artists of the present day offer their own vision of the singing of their legendary predecessors.

The extraordinary adulation accorded to castrati during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is still today one of the most fascinating phenomena in the history of music. During this golden age of the castrato, these male singers endowed with high voices that combined incredible refinement, amazing power and superhuman virtuosity took the musical world by storm. The whole of Europe was overcome by infatuation for these vocal prodigies. In the absence of the castrati themselves, the singers of today face the formidable challenge of reviving their repertoire. Both male and female singers now undertake the task of bringing back to life the wondrous voices of their androgynous forebears, in music that is by turns unsettling, deeply moving and of a dizzying virtuosity.

A 2CD-Compilation for the Price of 1 + 1 Bonus DVD - Digipack Format

Following the enormous success of the album OPERA 2009, EMI Classics is releasing OPERA 2010. Great voices of today and legendary singers of the past, from the EMI and Virgin Classics catalogue: the home of opera.

With 40 tracks, and over 2½ hours of operatic arias and duets, this double album features the best and most popular names in opera from the catalogues of both Virgin Classics and EMI Classics, ranging from the newest arrivals on the operatic scene, as well as many present day superstars, to iconic legends. This is an unmissable collection of the best in opera that will have a wide appeal.

Present day superstars include Angela Gheorghiu, Natalie Dessay, Sarah Brightman, Barbara Hendricks, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Jessye Norman, Placido Domingo, José Carreras, Rolando Villazón, Roberto Alagna and Bryn Terfel.

Rising new artists are strongly represented by Joyce DiDonato, Diana Damrau, Elina Garanca, Vivica Genaux, Véronique Gens, Patrizia Ciofi, Philippe Jaroussky, Jonas Kaufmann, David Daniels, Max Emanuel Cencic and Laurent Naouri.

The programme also contains tracks by some of the world’s greatest singers of the past such as Victoria de los Angeles, Teresa Berganza, Mirella Freni, Lucia Popp and Franco Corelli as well as the legendary Luciano Pavarotti and the unique Maria Callas.

All the most popular operatic composers are represented, from Baroque masters like Vivaldi, Rameau and Handel, through Gluck and Mozart to Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni, Cilea and Gershwin, as well as French favourites Gounod, Massenet and Offenbach.

Rolando Villazón and Gabrieli Players maestro Paul McCreesh – a Gramophone award winner for his Haydn Creation in 2008 – energize an all-Italian Handel aria program that opens the door for his fans into the marvels of the Baroque repertoire. Had Handel known and composed for Rolando’s voice, Villazón’s ardent tenor could not more perfectly realize Handel’s grand, melodic style

All admirers of the tenor voice – not just Rolando Villazón’s numerous fans – will be swept off their feet into a love affair with his heartfelt Handel

Cielo e mar has sold almost 90,000 units to date worldwide, and this surprisingly different album is the perfect follow-up

This release was launched in perfect time for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Handel’s death.

This ravishing selection of arias and duets is drawn from some of Handel’s finest vocal works, among them the operas Xerxes (source of the famous ‘Largo’), Ariodante, with its gripping ‘Scherza, infida’, and, perhaps his most popular works for the stage, Giulio Cesare and Alcina.

The generously-filled discs (two CDs for the price of one) also include the complete cantata Splenda l’alba in oriente and excerpts the dramatic cantata Armida abbandonata, the English ode L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, and the exquisite Neapolitan serenata Aci, Galatea e Polifemo.

An international cast of outstanding Handelians includes Philippe Jaroussky, Natalie Dessay, David Daniels, Véronique Gens, Ian Bostridge, Joyce DiDonato, Stephanie Blythe, Janet Baker, Vivica Genaux, Gérard Lesne, James Bowman..

“Beyond a forgivable desire to rehabilitate the Handel tenor, I have tried in this recording to represent one essential but fugitive quality of Handel’s - his protean nature, his ability to recreate himself while remaining essentially the same.” Ian Bostridge