"This magnificent production is a complete and blissful success. Don't miss it." Those were the words of the French website Classique News when Leonardo Vinci's rediscovered Artaserse was staged by Silviu Purcãrete at the Opéra National de Lorraine in Nancy. This DVD features no fewer than five of the world's leading countertenors – assuming both male and female roles: Philippe Jaroussky, Max Emanuel Cencic, Franco Fagioli, Valer Barna-Sabadus and Yuriy Mynenko.

Leonardo Vinci (1690-1730) was celebrated during his life as one of Italy's leading composers of opera. In the words of musicologist Frédéric Delaméa, Artaserse – composed to a libretto by the great Metastasio – "is a key work of baroque opera and the genius of Vinci is still too little known."