I must admit to being in an anti-Donizetti phase just at the present, and one not much helped by a performance here that appears somewhat over-blown and unidiomatic. So much of Donizetti's music seems written to the tired formulas from which Verdi rescued Italian opera that the moments of real inspiration, rather few and far between in this work, are hardly enough to compensate for the duller passages. Of course, singing of notable character can transform Donizetti. For all Sutherland's undoubted attributes of full tone and formidable technique here, particularly notable in the final scene of the opera, she doesn't quite convince me that Lucrezia is more than a cardboard character. On stage, where she often sang the title-role about the time this set was made she could be convincing, but in terms of sound alone her tone is often too occluded, her diction more so, for the portrayal to make the breakthrough to conviction.
Another drawback at this period of recording was that most sets of Italian opera were made in London, with choral singing and the assumption of minor roles that hardly sound idiomatic. In the principal parts other than Lucrezia there is some strong, well-shaped singing from Aragall, the unfortunate Gennaro; Wixell blusters effectively as Alfonso, but Horne hardly has the youthful tone and light style needed for a convincing portrayal of the youthful Orsini. As LS pointed out in his original review, Bonynge conducts in a somewhat unstable fashion, driving hard in dramatic passages, holding back unduly elsewhere. The recording is excellent. At mid-price, a new generation of Sutherland enthusiasts need not delay; they will certainly admire the well-known accomplishments of their heroine.'