Decca Classics has added Australian soprano Greta Bradman to their stable of acclaimed artists (which includes vocal legends such as Pavarotti, Tebaldi, Bartoli and Fleming), with the announcement of the recitalist, concert and opera star’s debut album for the label.

Featuring a selection of opera arias ranging from Handel to Verdi, Bradman will record her first disc, titled My Hero, in London this month, with the English Chamber Orchestra under the baton of conductor Richard Bonynge. Bradman is in excellent hands with the illustrious Australian Maestro, who is best known for his close association with Dame Joan Sutherland, conducting for virtually all Sutherland’s operatic appearances from 1962 until her retirement in 1990, as well as a number of recordings with Dame Sutherland for Decca.

Richard Bonynge with Dame Joan Sutherland

Bradman’s new album takes its name after an aria from Oscar Straus’ operetta The Chocolate Soldier, but it is also in tribute to the artist’s personal heroes; Richard Bonynge, with whom she is collaborating for the album, but also her maternal grandfather Horace Young, a keen amateur singer, and her paternal...