Mozart: Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen (from Die Zauberflöte) (Queen of the Night's Aria)

Anu Komsi, Finland’s ‘coloratura assoluta’, here presents a wide-ranging programme, from mad scenes and rage arias from 18th- and 19th-century operas, to Alyabyev’s ever-soaring Nightingale and the silvery tinkling of Lakmé’s Bell Song.

Komsi also performs later examples of coloratura, including Glière’s glittering Concerto for coloratura and orchestra, and La Machine de l’être by the composer John Zorn – a work which she premiered in New York City in 2011.

The disc closes with a thoroughly idiomatic performance of Sibelius’ Luonnotar, with its text from the Finnish national epos Kalevala.

Throughout the programme, Anu Komsi is supported by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo.

This magnificent collection features the some of the greatest opera stars of all time:

Cecilia Bartoli, Anna Netrebko, Bryn Terfel, Renée Fleming, Andrea Bocelli Luciano Pavarotti, Dame Joan Sutherland, Plácido Domingo, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and José Carreras.

With a carefully chosen selection of perennially popular arias, duets and choruses, this enchanting collection creates the perfect introduction to opera.

With 40 tracks and over 2½ hours of music this collection is outstanding value for money.

Includes Pavarotti’s classic recording of the most popular opera aria of all, Puccini’s ‘Nessun dorma’.

When Joan Sutherland died, many music critics commented on the quality of her voice in her early performances. The concert performances recorded here gave her the opportunity to deliver glorious singing without too many distractions. She was also able to collaborate with artists who she would not encounter in the opera house, such as Dennis Brain, heard here.

Exceptional French soprano Patricia Petibon joins the DG roster with her debut album Amoureuses, featuring arias by Mozart, Haydn and Gluck

Petibon has established herself as one of the most interesting and versatile sopranos of our day and has been widely acclaimed for her outstanding acting abilities that make her merge completely with whatever role she sings and represents on stage

With Amoureuses Petibon circles around the ever-important topic of love and desire – in a series of character-portraits she explores how the very different female characters in the operas of Mozart, Haydn, and Gluck respond to the challenges of love

Ranging from the dramatic fury in Haydn’s Odio, furor, dispetto and Mozart’s Der Hölle Rache . . . to the sweetness in his Deh vieni, and from the desperate sadness of his L’ho perduta . . . me meschina! to the grandeur of Gluck’s Ah! Si la liberté, the album is the perfect showcase for Petibon’s exceptional skills of expression and characterization

For Amoureuses Petibon teamed up with the acclaimed period-instrument band Concerto Köln and conductor Daniel Harding, a collaboration that guarantees an effervescent, entrancing approach to the music of the Viennese masters – a captivating debut to watch for!