Opera Rara continues its Essential Opera series with the second volume, Federico Ricci's La Prigione di Edimburgo. Once again, specially selected highlights, representing the heart or essence of the work, are presented on just one disc. Immensely popular in its day, La Prigione di Edimburgo provided two hits ' the lullaby, 'Dormi, dormi bel bambino', gloriously sung on this recording by Nuccia Focile, and the baritone aria, 'Sulla poppa del mio brich', performed by the accomplished Christopher Purves. Like Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, the work is based on a Walter Scott novel, this time The Heart of Midlothian. The CD is accompanied by a complete libretto and English translation, giving the listener the opportunity to understand how the various excerpts relate to the whole. In the beautifully illustrated 208 page book, scholar Jeremy Commons provides a detailed background on the art of Federico Ricci.