Artists: Philippe Jaroussky, Max-Emanuel Cencic, James Bowman, Alfred Deller, Gérard Lesne, René Jacobs, Charles Brett, Derek Lee Ragin, David Daniels...
Including last castrato Allesandro Moreschi, recorded in 1902.

These 3 CD′s feature a roll-call of virtually all the leading countertenors of recent history. Each has his own vocal colour and style, from the very British restraint of Alfred Deller, probably the first great countertenor of the modern era, to the lushness of the American David Daniels, the elegance of the Frenchman Philippe Jaroussky, the sophisticated approach of René Jacobs, the fire of the middle-European Cencic and the clarity of the German Andreas Scholl.

All these artists are exponents of ′authentic′ performance, but - fortunately for the gentlemen in question - true authenticity is restricted to the track performed by Alessandro Moreschi. Dating from 1902 and the only known audio memento of a genuine castrato, it was recorded in the Sistine Chapel, Romen, where Moreschi sang in the choir.

CD 1
1 Vivaldi: "Vedrò con mio diletto" (Giustino) 5.11
2 Handel: "Frondi Tenere" . "Ombra mai fu" (Serse) 3.17
3 Vivaldi: "Stabat Mater dolorosa" (Stabat Mater) 3.18
4 Hasse: "Pallido il sole" (Artaserse) 4.03
5 Bach: "Vergnügte Ruh′, beliebte Seelenlust" BWV170 6.56
6 Handel: "He was despised" (Le Messie) 11.46
7 Handel: "Sincero affetto" (Fernando) 5.18
8 Handel: "Minicciami, non ho timor" (Amadigi) 8.38
9 Handel: "Amor, tiranno Amor" (Serse) 4.26
10 Bach: "Bereite dich, Zion, mit zärtlichen Trieben" (Christmas Oratorio) 5.40
11 Handel: "O Lord, whose mercies numberless" (Saül) 3.30
12 Handel: "Conservate, raddoppiate" 4.30
13 Bach: "Agnus Dei" (Messe en si mineur) 5.27
14 Monteverdi: "Pur ti miro, pur ti godo" (L′Incoronazione di Poppea) 3.54
15 Anonyme (Henry VIII?) Greensleeves 3.13

CD 2
1 Pergolesi: "Stabat Mater dolorosa" (Stabat Mater) 4.41
2 Pergolesi: "Ad te clamamus" (Salve Regina) 1.02
3 Vivaldi: "Cum dederit dilectis" (Nisi Dominus) 3.51
4 Vivaldi: "Alleluia" (Longe mala, umbrae, terrores) 2.17
5 Legrenzi: "Ave Regina coelorum" 3.26
6 Vivaldi: "Cor ingrato dispietato" 3.23
7 Bach: "Et misericordia" (Magnificat) 3.21
8 Handel: "Madre. Son nata lagrimar" (Giulio Cesare in Egitto) 8.21
9 Handel: "Chi è nato alla sventure" (Admeto, re di Tessaglia) 2.34
10 Handel: "M′opporrò da generoso" (Fernando) 4.21
11 Charpentier: "Ecce quomodo" (Leçons de Ténèbres: Office du mercredi saint) 4.03
12 Mozart: "Venga pur, minacci e frema" (Mitridate) 7.04
13 Rossini: "Eccomi alfine in Babilonia. Ah, quel giorno" (Semiramide) 11.09
14 Britten: "Welcome, wanderer.I know a bank where the wild thyme blows" (A Midsummer Night′s Dream) 4.55

CD 3
1 "I am a poor wayfaring stranger" (Trad.) 4.47
2 Purcell: Music for a while 3.46
3 Purcell: "Sound the trumpet, sound, till around" (Come ye sons of Art) 2.27
4 Bellini: "Malinconia, Ninfa gentile" 1.41
5 Gluck: "Ahimè! Dove trascorsi?... Che faro senza Euridice" (Orfeo ed Euridice) 5.07
6 Schubert: Ave Maria (arr. Ogden ) 4.31
7 Schubert: "Nacht und Träume" 4.02
8 Du Buisson: Plainte sur la mort de Monsieur Lambert 5.13
9 Berlioz: "Sur les lagunes" (Les Nuits d′été) 6.17
10 Orff: "Olim lacus colueram" (Carmina Burana) 3.50
11 Silent Night 3.54
12 Rossini: Duetto buffo di due gatti (Duo des chats) 2.51
13 Lesne: Maladresse 3.58
14 Anonyme: "Shenandoah" 4.30
15 Martini: "Plaisir d′amour" 3.50
16) Bonus track : the recording of the last castrato Alessandro Moreschi, recorded in 1902