Album: Nuria Rial, Telemann: Opera Arias (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi)

Catalan soprano Nuria Rial here explores the largely uncharted terrain of Georg Philipp Telemann's operatic arias, rarely performed today, despite his having composed an estimated 50 operas during a most prolific career.

The aria which opens the album, for instance, "Come, o sleep, and let my cares", is one of 45 recently ascribed to his opera Germanicus, prompting wonder at its possible length. Here, the gentle, courtly tone so effortlessly sustained by Rial is elevated by the use of two flutes amid a glowing orchestral arrangement. The delightful feathery fluting of concertante recorder likewise helps animate the emotional quandary of "Hope gives me comfort", from an opera about Socrates, while Rial's fluttering coloratura is beautifully employed within the early-music arrangement of "Appear soon, o phantom of my senses", from the similarly unstaged Emma & Eginhard.

Download this: Hope gives me comfort; Come, o sleep, and let my cares; Appear soon, o phantom of my senses