Emma Bell flies stylishly through florid baroque aria

Arne: ARTAXERXES - Fly, soft ideas, fly, London, BBC Proms, 2004

THE SONGBIRD: British soprano Emma Bell trained at the Royal Academy of Music and National Opera Studio. She launched her career by winning the Kathleen Ferrier Prize in 1998. At first there was a focus on Mozart with engagements at La Scala (Elettra, Donna Elvira), ENO (Vitellia), the Metropolitan Opera (Countess Almaviva, Donna Elvira), and Berlin (Pamina). Handel roles include Alcina (Paris) and Rodelinda (Glyndebourne). She later shifted into German young dramatic soprano roles such as Wagner’s Eva, Elisabeth, Venus, Sieglinde, and Elsa, Beethoven’s Leonore, and Strauss’s Arabella. Other roles include Anne Trulove, Mimi, Violetta, Micaela, Madame Lidoine, Vanessa, Ellen Ford, and Britten’s Governess.

THE MUSIC: Thomas Arne's "Artaxerxes" was the first English opera seria, premiering at Covent Garden in 1762. Its plot is based on the historical figure Artaxerxes, who succeeded his father Xerxes who was assassinated. The work was a considerable success seeing hundreds of performances in many productions across the UK and America through the early 19th century. It has been revived only a few times in the modern era, most recently at Covent Garden to commemorate Arne's 300th anniversary, a production that was recorded and released on Linn Records. This bravura aria “Fly, soft ideas, fly” is rarely heard, living in the shadow of the much better known “The soldier tir’d” -- both are sung by the character Mandane.

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