Even well into his late fifties, tenor Ian Bostridge remains as popular as ever, and this collection of Baroque arias has had typical commercial success. One may ask just why he is so consistently well-liked. His voice is quite well preserved, but it has never had the athletic quality one associates with Baroque opera; for pure opera singing, one might choose any number of other voices. A major factor is his ability to put together programs that illuminate deeply a certain place and time. This album is called Tormento d'Amore ("the torments of love"), and it constitutes a varied treatment of that theme, with moods ranging from melancholy to angry. However, there are other main ideas here. Bostridge traces the center of operatic gravity as it moved from Venice to Naples; Naples, the eighth-largest city in the world by 1750, was growing in commercial and artistic importance. The music runs in a chain from Francesco Cavalli, who trained many of the next generation, including some of the Neapolitans, to Vivaldi. In between are composers known mostly to specialists (there are a couple of world premieres), including Cristofaro Caresana, Francesco Provenzale, and Leonardo Vinci; if for nothing else, this album would be noteworthy for bringing into circulation the likes of Provenzale's gorgeous "Che speri, o mio core," from Il schiavo di sua moglie (1672). Another point of emphasis for Bostridge is that these are all tenor arias, and that has historically been a neglected genre in the Baroque. It may be the countertenors (and now sopranos) who got the big numbers, but Bostridge indicates what riches are out there in tenor parts. The accompaniment by Cappella Neapolitana under Antonio Florio is properly circumspect. It all adds up to a compelling hour that submerges the listeners into deep musical currents. Parlophone's sound from the Palazzo Positano in Naples is ideal.