Composers: Handel
Compositions: Operatic arias
Performers: Simone Kermes s, Amici Veneziani/Boris Begelman
Catalogue Number: Sony 19075861772

Simone Kermes is a highly idiosyncratic performer who delights in pushing the boundaries of good taste, often unafraid to inject her singing with a grab bag of vocal tricks. So it’s surprising that her latest release is that most standard of offerings, one to put next to your favourite singer’s Verdi or Puccini disc – the Handel recital.

For the most part, the soprano reins in her wilder impulses and there’s much to enjoy here. That’s not to say that she shies away from...