Much admitted when it first appeared, this version of one of the most effective of Verdi's early operas comes up sounding even more attractive on CD. Its most abiding asset is the conducting of Gardelli, who was to go on to record so many of Verdi's 'galley' operas with equal success. His skill here is to make even Verdi's most obvious figure seem relevant to the musical texture and by dint of observing all the composer's copious dynamic markings, to prove that the score can yield up more musical pleasures than the page may suggest. Next in importance is the unobtrusive excellence of the Philips recording, a model and a lesson to others who let reverberance and distancing take over from what is here properly forward and well balanced.
The singers, Bergonzi's impeccable Foresto apart, are more notable as an ensemble than as individuals. Desmond Shawe-Taylor pointed out in his ''Quarterly Retrospect'' of July 1973 that Deutekom is basically a light-weight, florid singer in a dramatic role, but she makes the best of her resources. Similarly, Raimondi has never been a real Verdi basso, and in the seventies he adopted a lugubrious style he has now corrected. Milnes is a vivid enough Ezio, but Bergonzi, as ever, gives a lesson to all in Verdian singing.'