Released to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Thomas Arne, the composer of Rule, Britannia!, The Classical Opera Company presents the first complete recording of Artaxerxes. The original scores for the opera were burned in a fire in Drury Lane Theatre—only the orchestral parts and the libretto, and some of the music survived. Noted musicologist Duncan Druce recreated the Finale and the Company's director Ian Page the recitatives for this, the new performing edition, which was premiered at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 2009. The opera contains several well-known arias, including 'The soldier tir'd', made famous by the late Joan Sutherland.

The Classical Opera Company, which was founded by Ian Page in 1997, specialises in the music of Mozart and his contemporaries whilst performing with its own period-instrument orchestra. The Classical Opera Company has also established an outstanding track-record for its work in discovering and developing world-class young artists. Listen to the soloists in Artaxerxes (Christopher Ainslie, Elizabeth Watts, Caitlin Hulcup, Andrew Staples, Rebecca Bottone and Daniel Norman) to hear why The Classical Opera Company is regarded as one of Britain's most exciting and highly regarded young arts organizations.

A 24-bit 192 kHz studio master for this album is available from the Linn Records website.