The Harmonia Mundi label is currently on a roll. Hardly a month goes by without at least one excellent release - discs from Andreas Scholl, the choir Stile Antico and Richard Egarr with the Academy of Ancient Music, to name but three this year; Paul Lewis’s Beethoven and Bernarda Fink’s Brahms at the end of 2006 - and April proves no exception. Tenor Mark Padmore is a familiar name on the opera and oratorio scene, both live and recorded, but this is his first solo recording. And what a disc: intelligently planned; highly dramatic at times, without overplaying situations; and beautifully executed by all the musicians. The programme centres on substantial scenes from three of Handel’s more mature works, Tamerlano, Samson and Jephtha, portraying contrasting aspects of the characters (Bajazet, Samson and Jephtha respectively). The final accompagnato from Tamerlano, where Bajazet takes poison and bids farewell to his daughter and the world, is eerily stunning for its sense of being a live, staged peformance (despite this being a studio recording). Padmore is equally convincing in his arias from Alceste, Semele (a delightful Where’er you walk), Il Trionfo and Rodelinda. As steals the morn, a mouth-watering duet with Lucy Crowe (Sophie in Scottish Opera’s recent Rosenkavalier) leaves one wishing for more. Utterly moving, yet simple, unaffected singing and playing – mere words can’t do this disc full justice.

Reviewed by Anne McAlister