Bachs Passions and other great choral works in performances with the Staatskapelle Dresden under the masterly direction of Peter Schreier who also sings the role of the Evangelist. Schreiers aim in Bach interpretation is to bring new lightness without following the full dictates of authentic performance, and in this he succeeds superbly. The recording is first rate, with the choral forces well separated.

This live recording of the concert of 31st March 1985 document the performances of the Passion which have been given annually by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Concertgebouw Orchestra for ten years now.

This is a fine recital of 23 Schubert Lieder, including some popular favorites like Gretchen am Spinnrade, Ganymed, Du bist die Ruh', An Silvia, etc., alongside some less well-known works. Arleen Auger was a celebrated interpreter of this repertoire and sings beautifully. She is accompanied by Lambert Orkis on a fortepiano, so this is one of the few available Schubert song recitals with period accompaniment.

Blegen’s technically flawless and musically peerless rendition (Exsultate, jubilate) is a pure celebration of beautiful singing and of the wonder of Mozart’s dazzling masterpiece. The sound is as clear and immediate as if it had been recorded yesterday, and Pinchas Zukerman’s direction is exemplary. Not so exemplary is this version of the Mozart/Süssmayr Requiem, although it certainly is one of the sturdier and more durable performances on disc (and the quartet of soloists is unsurpassed).

–David Vernier

It would be hard to devise a septet of soloists more stylish than those on the reissued EMI set, with Arleen Auger brilliant and warm-toned…Della Jones stands out in the breeches role of Ruggiero and Eiddwen Harrhy as Morgana is no less brilliant…Hickox underlines the contrasts of mood and speed, conveying the full range of emotion.

The Penguin Guide

The composition is a tour de force, written by Handel at the age of 22 to showcase his skill in choral music – which this recording certainly does. Outstanding historically informed performance led by Simon Preston. Of particular note: an inspired rendering of the soprano duet "De Torrente" by Diana Montague and the legendary Arleen Augér.

Those inclined to take for granted Gluck's remarks concerning opera seria (''florid descriptions, unnatural paragons and sententious, cold morality'') could do a lot worse than listen to Handel's Orlando. Based at some remove on an episode from Ariosto's epic poem Orlando furioso, it's a work which in place of posturing heroes and unlikely dilemmas offers credible characters and situations, all drawn with that touching human sympathy and understanding that were such an important part of Handel's creative personality. First staged in London in 1733, it is one of the greatest operas the eighteenth century produced, yet it almost goes without saying that the very musical and dramatic qualities that place it beyond Gluckian criticism were at least partly responsible for the limited success it enjoyed in its own day. Audiences soaked in the blander conventions of Italian serious opera were perhaps tested just a little too much by Handel's ingenious manipulation of their expectations in this work, while its principal singer, the famous castrato Senesino, may well have been frustrated by the lack of opportunity for vocal display afforded by its title-role, that of a character who through unrequited love becomes oddly, even comically, deranged; significantly, Orlando was the last opera he sang in as a member of Handel's company.

There’s not much cruelty, corruption or ruthlessness in Arleen Auger’s exquisitely sung portrayal of the manipulative Poppea, but this hardly detracts from her otherwise radiantly expressive performance. This welcome reissue is not just exhilaratingly played by the City of London Baroque Sinfonia with a spareness and verve that keeps the drama taut, but impressively cast. James Bowman is an elegantly spurned Ottone; Gregory Reinhart a noble Seneca; and the wonderful Della Jones a spirited, quite convincingly masculine Nero. The only snag is Linda Hirst’s unlovely, rather hectoring Ottavia; it doesn’t do, somehow, to sympathise with Nero’s decision to dump her.