The album La mia letizia infondere (My heart is full of happiness) by Mexican tenor Héctor Sandoval takes us on a journey to Giuseppe Verdi, presenting arias especially from Verdi’s early oeuvre or earlier versions of subsequently revised works – precisely because they allow us to hear Verdi at his young and original freshest. As writing for voice was his sole concern, the melodies are simpler, their treatment totally uninhibited, devoid of any mannerism or layers of complexity. With accompaniment by the Philharmonia Baden-Baden conducted by Pavel Baleff, Sandoval interprets excerpts from I Lombardi, Ernani, I due Foscari, Macbeth, I Masnadieri, Don Carlo, Simon Boccanegra, Un ballo in maschera and Luisa Miller.