This strong and full-blooded performance uses a new English translation by Antony Peattie with which‚ though it is both comprehensible and singable‚ I have a bone or two to pick. ‘Yes‚ we’ll save her!’‚ cry the assembled bandits in Scene 1‚ but ‘Are you sure she’ll want this favour?’. Well‚ it rhymes‚ of course‚ but it’s a rather too loose and prosaic rendering of ‘She shall be abducted‚ but will she dare to follow us?’. My teeth were also set on edge by the setting of ‘fire’ and ‘sire’ as though both words had two syllables. I was scarcely bothered by such things whenever Alan Opie was singing. More than the other singers here he really uses English words to project personality‚ and together with his sustained Italianate line and the fact that he never forces his voice his Carlo emerges as a rounded as well as a richly sung character; his Act 3 aria (‘When I was young and trusting’) is nobly sung. Neither Susan Patterson nor Julian Gavin quite manage that combination of excellences‚ though both have much to offer. She (who in the booklet acknowledges coaching in the role of Elvira from Licia Albanese‚ no less) is in rich‚ firm voice‚ soaring over the big ensembles and approaching high notes fearlessly. Her purity of tone in the Act 1 duet with Ernani (here rendered ‘Ah‚ to die like this together’) makes one wish she had used mezza voce more often‚ and at full volume her coloratura is a touch strenuous‚ but in the Act 1 duet with Carlo and the ensuing trio she produces an authentic and exciting spinto. Gavin’s tenor is basically attractively plaintive; like Patterson he can sing quietly but seldom chooses to‚ and occasionally snatches at his high notes‚ in which effort is audible. Both of them‚ however‚ are clearly moved by and are themselves moving in the final scene‚ and both are greatly helped by the sympathetic flexibility of David Parry’s direction. Peter Rose begins by seeming to lack real bass weight as Silva‚ and he phrases his Act 1 aria (‘I’ve been cheated‚ for I believed her’) rather squarely. The cabaletta‚ however‚ is better‚ and he has acquired all the necessary authority by the Aix-la-Chapelle scene. The chorus is throughout splendid‚ allowed like the soloists to open out full-throatedly by the ample acoustic of the Blackheath Halls‚ which also permits exits and entrances to be discreetly ‘staged’ and the important banda to be placed on- or off-stage‚ according to context. I thought the finale to Act 3 slightly stiffly phrased (something to do‚ perhaps‚ with singing ‘Charlemagne‚ inspire me’ to notes intended for ‘O sommo Carlo’) but elsewhere found Parry’s conducting stylish and sensitive. The recording is outstandingly good; no one who wants a spirited rendering in English of Verdi’s first international success need hesitate for a moment.