It’s been at least a week since I had any Handel on here, so I think I can be allowed another dose. His opera Ariodante is a tale of treachery and misunderstandings but (spoiler alert) everything works out ok in the end, at which point Ariodante sings this jubilant aria that bubbles over with relief that the nightmare is over.

I’ve been indulging myself with lots of online opera during the lockdown, but apparently when I’m engrossed in watching something on my laptop, with headphones on, I start breathing strangely and my husband thinks I’ve fallen asleep. The other day, I was watching Ariodante when he suddenly started waving at me and shouted ‘wake up’, I was half way through this aria – there was no way I would have been asleep! This is a particularly lively (and fast) performance, and I love the way Ann Sophie von Otter bounces off the double t on the word Notte.