Mezzo-soprano Agnes Baltsa performs alongside the Athens Experimental Orchestra conducted by Stavros Xarhakos for this recording of songs from her Greek heritage. Composers include Manos Hadjidakis, Mikis Theodorakis, Stavros Xarhakos and Vasilis Tsitsanis. In 1968 Baltsa made her first appearance as Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart) at the Frankfurt Opera, followed by Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier, R. Strauss) at the Vienna State Opera in 1970. She was one of the youngest Ocativians ever at the Vienna State Opera. From that year on, her career developed rapidly: the Deutsche Oper Berlin, various opera houses in the United States (among which the Metropolitan Opera in New York), the Bavarian State Opera (München), Govent Garden, Zürich, the Paris Opera etc. Under the guidance of Herbert von Karajan, she was a regular guest at the Salzburger Festspiele. Her repertory includes works by Mozart (Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte, Requiem, etc.), Rossini (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, L'Italiana in Algeri), Mascagni (Cavalleria Rusticana), Verdi (Aida, La Forza del Destino, Il Trovatore, Don Carlo, Requiem) and Bellini (I Capuleti e I Montecchi), Donizetti (Il Campanello, Maria Stuarda), etc. But she is, of course, most famous for her performance of Carmen (Bizet), a role she has sung with José Carreras, Placido Domingo and Niel Shicoff many times. "Baltsa brings depth and unexpected tone colours to the Theordorakis settings." - Record Review / David Nice, BBC Music Magazine (London) / 01. September 2008