Rodelinda is a tale of unrequited love steeped in jealousy, treachery and grief. Jean-Marie Villegier's stylish production of Rodelinda sets Handel's tale of royal exile and fidelity in this silent movie era. The composer's ravishing music is perfectly set off by the sophisticated glamour and visual daring that characterized the birth of cinema.

It figures that the ensemble most responsible for the French Baroque revival is the one to outdo Nelson and Kirkby's legendary recording of these lamentation settings. Sophie Daneman and Patricia Petibon don't have the earlier pair's gorgeous, distinctive voices (both occasionally wobble above the staff), but they sound plenty beautiful. More importantly, they've managed to make these major-key pieces sound like lamentations. Twenty years ago, Kirkby and Nelson were pioneers: merely singing with their white tone was risky; they couldn't take many chances with rhythmic freedom.

One of the supreme monuments of western sacred music, the Mass in B minor has been constantly reexamined by successive generations of performers. The questions it raises for musicologists and conductors are many and varied; each of them strives to give his or her own reading with the necessary humility. It was in this frame of mind that William Christie tackled the work in the course of a memorable tour in 2016.

Luigi Rossi (ca. 1597 – 20 February 1653) was an Italian Baroque composer. Rossi was born in Torremaggiore, a small town near Foggia, in the ancient kingdom of Naples and at an early age he went to Naples. There he studied music with the Franco-Flemish composer Jean de Macque who was organist of the Santa Casa dell’Annunziata and maestro di cappella to the Spanish viceroy. Rossi later entered the service of the Caetani, dukes of Traetta. Luigi Rossi composed just two operas: Il palazzo incantato, which was given at Rome in 1642; and Orfeo, written after he was invited by Cardinal Mazarin in 1646 to go to Paris for that purpose, and given its premiere there in 1647. Rossi returned to France in 1648 hoping to write another opera, but no production was possible because the court had sought refuge outside Paris. Rossi returned to Rome by 1650 and never attempted anything more for the stage.

Stefano Landi, who was Monteverdi's junior by about 20 years, was active in Rome, whereas Monteverdi was based in Venice. Landi spent two formative years in Venice, though, and absorbed the progressive musical ideas of Monteverdi and other seconda prattica composers. That contact would explain why Il Sant'Alessio (1632) sounds like a Monteverdi opera. Its expressive recitatives, melodically gratifying set pieces, mixture of serious and comic elements, and the complex psychology of its characters make it a piece that should appeal to opera fans who love L'incoronazione di Poppea.

"Jephte" was Monteclair's second and final stage work, a lyric tragedy written when he was 65 and apparently the first Biblical opera produced in France since the mystery plays. The influences on Rameau's stage works music are readily apparent: the canny use of orchestral color for dramatic purposes, vivid musical characterization, infectiously lively dance music, and, above all, inspired and stirring choral writing.

Lully may have had a monopoly on the performance of actual opera in France, but David et Jonathas is effectively a sacred opera composed for performance at Jesuit colleges. The work is comprised mostly of arias and choruses; what recitative there is is unusually dramatic–especially in Saul's confrontation with David and his visit to the Witch of Endor to summon the ghost of Samuel. (Dominique Visse as the Witch deserves special mention for a convincing performance in a role that could easily descend into camp.) William Christie's choir and orchestra perform with all the expertise you'd expect; Monique Zanetti makes a rather feminine Jonathan but sings beautifully. In the role of David, the sensitive and heroic countertenor voice of Gérard Lesne is extraordinary.

This album of Baroque cantatas and chamber duets grew out of a 2007 performance of Stefano Landi's 1631 opera Il Sant'Alessio starring Philippe Jaroussky and Max Emanuel Cencic (among the eight countertenors in the cast) with William Christie conducting Les Arts Florissants. Christie was so impressed with the blend of Jaroussky and Cencic's voices that he brought them together to explore the vast and rarely performed repertoire of late 17th and early 18th century Italian duets for equal voices.

“Some of the most wonderful music in the world” is how William Christie describes Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea, noting in particular the opera’s overriding humanism and interest in questions of morality and ambition. Performed by an exceptional cast of soloists (including Sonya Yoncheva, Kate Lindsey, Stéphanie d’Oustrac…) working with a remarkable stage director, Jan Lauwers, each of the work’s characters is vividly brought to life, accompanied by a reduced ensemble featuring a large continuo section essential for capturing the unique sound world of the composer. This acclaimed production was recorded in 2018 at the prestigious Salzburg Festival.

On the strength of the immense success of Dido & Aeneas and King Arthur, in 1692 Purcell went on to produce The Fairy Queen, based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer-Night’s Dream. The work is, in fact, a ‘semi-opera’, or ‘opera with dialogue’, in which only some of the crucial scenes are provided with music. But this version of A Midsummer-Night’s Dream by the ‘Orpheus Britannicus’ became almost as famous as the play that inspired it, with its love scenes, its supernatural scenes and its innate sense of musical humour investing it with an irresistible savour and enchantment.This title was released for the first time in 1989.

Released in 1995, this Harmonia Mundi CD of five of Handel's Concerti grossi, Op. 6, is an absolute bargain and highly recommended to any lover of great music. Considering William Christie and Les Arts Florissants are among the most brilliant interpreters of Handel, that these gorgeous works afforded them an ideal platform for their talents, and that Harmonia Mundi provided the best possible engineering to capture their glorious sound, this album is an embarrassment of riches not to be missed. One regrets, however, that there are just 5 of the 12 concerti; since Christie recorded only Nos. 1, 2, 6, 7, and 10 for Harmonia Mundi before switching to Erato, there is no follow-up disc for the rest of Op. 6. But this is an exceptional package for anyone who does not already own a complete set, and a great deal even for those who do. The ripieno glows with a burnished luster in the resonant acoustic, and the concertino soloists are wonderfully expressive, technically polished, and utterly clear in execution. Handel's genius, of course, is comparable only to Bach's, and these exquisite works are fine choices for any beginner exploring Baroque music beyond the Brandenburg Concertos.

‘Semele’ is presented in Robert Carsen’s stylish modern dress production, originally seen in London, and most recently staged at the Zurich Opera in 2007. The drama tells of the ambition of the beautiful mortal, Semele, who, not satisfied with being Jupiter’s mistress, strives with fatal results to supplant Jupiter’s wife, Juno. Conceived as an oratorio but nowadays presented as a stage drama, it is a superb vehicle for all the principals, not least the substantial title role, which includes such popular arias as ‘Endless pleasure’ and ‘Myself I shall adore’.

In October 2007, the Centre Musical de Baroque de Versailles celebrated its 20th anniversary, together with the best French musicians around. To complete this anniversary, they now present the release of a 20-CD box with numerous musical highlights, both of the anniversary concerts as well as releases from the previous 20 years. Thanks to this jubilee box, you can now witness this landmark of French Baroque music.

This Virgin Classics release reunites William Christie and Les Arts Florissants with the music of Marc-Antoine Charpentier, a composer for whom it can be said Christie has done more to expose than any other he has taken on. This is saying a lot, as Christie has also made extensive recorded forays into the works of Campra, Lully, Montéclair, Monteverdi, Purcell, and in particular, Handel. However, Charpentier remains a special case to Christie, and there is still a monumental amount of unrecorded music by this composer to exploit. The two works on Virgin Classics' Charpentier: Judicium Salomonis actually have been recorded before, though not often and not by well-known groups like Christie's – the Motet pour une longue Offrande has been recorded by Philippe Herreweghe and that's about it in terms of the competition.

The debut solo recording from Danielle de Niese, who became a star overnight after her stunning 'all singing, all dancing' performance as Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare at Glyndebourne in 2005. Danielle signs a selection of Handel arias from both famous and lesser-known works which showcase perfectly her extraordinary dramatic range and vocal abilities.