With 40 tracks, and over 21 hours of operatic arias and duets, this double album features the best and  most popular names in opera, ranging from the newest arrivals on the operatic scene as well as many  present day superstars to iconic legends. This is a collection of the best in opera and will have a wide  appeal.  Present day superstars include Sarah Brightman, Natalie Dessay, Angela Gheorghiu, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa,  Barbara Hendricks, Teresa Berganza, Lesley Garrett, Dame Felicity Lott, Deborah Voigt, Placido Domingo, Rolando Villaz¢n, Roberto Alagna, Jos‚ Carreras, Ian Bostridge and Bryn Terfel Rising new artists are represented by Joyce DiDonato, Diana Damrau, Kate Royal, Elina GaranŠa, Vivica  Genaux, V‚ronique Gens, Patrizia Ciofi, Violetta Urmana, Liping Zhang, David Daniels, Philippe Jaroussky, Laurent Naouri and Jonathan Lemalu. The programme also contains tracks by some of the world's greatest singers of the past such as Maria Callas, Birgit Nilsson, Montserrat Caball‚, Luciano Pavarotti, Franco Corelli and Hans Hotter. All the most popular operatic composers are represented, from the Baroque masters such as Vivaldi and Handel through Gluck and Mozart to Donizetti,Verdi and Puccini as well as French favourites Berlioz, Gounod, Massenet and Offenbach, and of course Germany's great Richard Wagner. More recent composers  include Cilea, Korngold, Stravinsky and Gershwin. EMI. 2009.