Semiramide has more than its share of grandness, and in the trumpet-crowned procession as the Queen of Babylon prepares to announce her choice of king you can't help but hear a pre-echo of Verdi's Aida, still nearly 50 years in the future. Elder always has an ear for the lightness in such episodes, and they sound hearty but never bombastic. The Opera Rara Chorus sings some tough music thrillingly well.

The lavishly gifted Russian coloratura Albina Shagimuratova, she of the shining high E, and Daniela Barcellona, our finest contemporary Arsace, are both superb…This is an intensely theatrical performance, yet there is no rush in the larger shaping of the piece…And what a difference the old instruments make.

One of the outstanding features of this latest recording is Mark Elder’s insightful, highly dramatic leadership. At spacious tempos, the music breathes and Rossini’s orchestra shines like a newly restored painting…the present recording sets a standard as an overall achievement of the highest quality thanks to the collaboration of a well-attuned cast and a theatrically savvy conductor – not to forget the discriminating producer.

The period instruments of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (particularly the brass) fizz and glow, and four hours zips along in the blink of an eye thanks to Elder’s lightly-sprung tempi and unflagging rhythmic momentum…[Shagimuratova] possesses the same crystalline quality that made Sutherland such a marvel and yields nothing in terms of agility and facility in the upper reaches.

Elder’s inspired choice of the OAE brings bracing textures and nimble fingerwork to the composer’s most ambitious score...Albina Shagimuratova is an appealing and formidable antiheroine, Mirco Palazzi blusters villainously as Assur and Barry Banks’s strenuous Idreno offers ringing high notes. The Opera Rara Chorus excels.

This piece requires serious commitment...It’s worth parcelling it out to really appreciate the quality of the dazzling singing from a classy cast that also includes Mirco Palazzi, Barry Banks and David Butt Philip. And there is wonderfully crisp and alert playing from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

This new recording...reveals Elder’s approach to Semiramide to be one of translucence and buoyancy, with clear textures and a refreshing respect for Rossini’s inventive orchestration, which exhibits far more than mere support for his soloists. Shagimuratova reveals a bright and mettlesome soprano, undaunted by the role’s demands, and firmly outlines Semiramide’s emotional decline and fall.

The new recording of Gioacchino Rossini’s Semiramide under the baton of Sir Mark Elder brings, despite relatively slow tempi throughout this performance, a great deal of freshness, resulting both from many dynamic contrasts and intense dramaturgy, as well as from a historically informed way of conducting. With a magnificent set of sensitive soloists and a chorus bursting with sweetness but also with energy, here is a very contemporary and convincing vision of this score.