In this dazzling album, Sandrine Piau crowns her legacy as a Baroque prima donna...her informed additions subvert the original melodies and unleash a ferocious vocalism...Correas and the band add their own magic: whirlwind tempos, extravagant continuo realisations and slightly off-beat entries keep us guessing what the instrumentalists will do next.

‘Piangerò la sorte mia’, finds the singer not darkening her tone but portraying Cleopatra’s sadness with a touching intensity. ‘Da tempeste il legno infranto’, on the other hand, is a true contrast, sung with appealing vigour.

nothing detracts from performances notable for singing displaying a rare command of musical and textural syntax in addition to Piau’s undimmed technical prowess

Piau works plenty of magic of her own across this gallery of sorceresses, sirens and seductresses, with highlights including a heart-stopping 'Ah, mio cor' from Alcina, a brilliantly-ornamented 'Da tempeste' from Giulio Cesare and a bleak and beautiful excerpt from La Lucrezia (I'd love to hear her in the entire cantata at some point). Les Paladins are on alert, characterful form throughout, with some dazzling work from the trumpets in Melissa's 'Desterò dall'empia Dite' from Amadigi di Gaula.

Her tone remains pristine, but her response to the emotional effect of the music has deepened...she retains enough sweetness to render Almirena’s Lascia ch’io pianga — arguably Handel’s best known opera aria, from Rinaldo — with immaculate style and exquisite tone.

Sizzling performances from all.