‘Handel: Operatic Arias’ sees soprano Emma Bell perform with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, directed from the harpsichord by Richard Egarr, in her second recital disc for Linn.

Originally released in 2005 ‘Handel: Operatic Arias’ has been re-issued as part of Linn’s ECHO series which offers a second chance to enjoy the best of the label’s award-winning catalogue.

Emma Bell rose to fame when she took over the title role in Handel's Rodelinda at five hours' notice for Glyndebourne on Tour in 1998 while still a student at the London Opera Centre; Bell’s delivery of that heart-piercing aria, Se'l mio duol, a highlight of her performance, is included here.

Early performances as Tigrane in Radamisto and Almirena in Rinaldo, as well as that unforgettable Rodelinda, make it very fitting that Bell’s first operatic recital disc should be devoted to Handel.

The well-chosen extracts sample the whole of Handel's London operatic career, from his first (Rinaldo, 1711) to his last (Deidamia, 1741), and demonstrate his (and the singer's) wide range of moods, from defiance to resignation, from love to the wilder shores of hatred.