At a time when there were limited opportunities to attend the opera house, and before the existence of recordings, the operatic fantasy proved a popular and ingenious way to spend great melodies to a wider audience. Some classics of this genre are heard in this second volume - not least Wilhelmj's arrangement of Handel and Kreisler's beautifully tranquil arrangement of Gluck - but there are also memorable examples from Verdi and Hubay's piquant opera Le Luthier de Cremone, as well as two vivid contemporary examples that continue the genre into the twenty-first century.