Accompanied by the superb Staatskapelle Dresden, under the occasionally overmellow baton of Sir Colin Davis, Finnish soprano Karita Mattila here presents eight German Romantic arias, two of which--concert arias--are in Italian. Agathe's two arias from Weber's Der Freischuetz are handsomely, introspectively sung, with lovely tone and nice inner reflection. Leonore's big scene from Fidelio is suitably angry and hopeful, with Mattila's voice an ideal instrument for the character's predicament and Beethoven's wide vocal leaps. Her singing of Beethoven's "Ah, perfido," a 13-minute rant that is quite a test for any soprano, is thrilling, and the final moments of Rezia's "Ocean, thou mighty monster" (sung in the original, outlandish English) are almost overwhelming intense and exciting. Two arias from Weber's Euryanthe show the character's two sides: the wildly defiant and the prayerful. A rarity, an Italian-language aria by Mendelssohn, is fascinating. This is an exciting release, a joy for Mattila fans, and a great honor to Weber, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn.