Reviews

"... as fine an example of singing by a tenor in Verdi as we have heard in many a year: elegant in detail, movingly expressive and endowed with that special beauty of tone which was Villazon's distinctive gift...he sustained the demanding role without any sign of tiring, forcing or losing quality towards the end" (Gramophone)

"... the love-torn relationship of the titular prince and the fiancée stolen from him by his father the king is sensitively staged and played: Rolando Villazon (in less uncertain voice than reportedly on opening night) and Marina Poplavskaya, a regal beauty much-loved by the camera, make it all movingly fresh...Pappano's urgently impassioned conducting...lends everyone unfailing support" (BBC Music Magazine)

"Villazon's Carlo remains fully committed dramatically...Poplavskaya skilfully develops Elisabetta from coltish girl to anguished queen...[Keenlyside] blazes with conviction...[Furlanetto] shapes his Philip in tone consistently rounded, colourful and expertly controlled...This orchestra knows the piece intimately, and it shows. Pappano is a master of dramatic atmosphere throughout" (International Record Review)