Well known or not, these works are vintage Handel in all his guises – heroic, lyrical, dramatic – and there is plenty of buried treasure (the lilting flute lines of Sussurrate, onde vezzose from Amadigi, for instance). The light swing of Sí, la voglio e l’otterró shows off Jaroussky’s acting skills as well as his superbly controlled melisma. The dramatic heart of the collection is Ombra cara from Radamisto, which runs to a glorious eight minutes with strings providing a lush blanket for the singer’s pure soprano tone and faultless phrasing.

The four extracts from this opera demonstrate some particularly fine orchestrations, perhaps reflecting the fact that the Royal Academy of Music had recently been established when Handel wrote it in 1720 and he had been appointed their salaried master of the orchestra. This is a must-have album that has been on high rotation in this reviewer’s household – with Stille amare from Tolomeo on repeat.