I have no reason to moderate the inordinate praise I heaped on this set when it first appeared just over nine years ago. Muti and his two principals, caught at white heat on the stage of Covent Garden, offer a rendition of Bellini's supple, eloquent score that gave the work a new definition and standing in the Bellini canon. Away from the limbo of studio recording, the music lives at a heightened level of emotion and the sound reflects a true opera-house balance.
Muti persuades his singers and the Royal Opera House players to noble utterance. Baltsa's Romeo has a Callas-like conviction of phrase and diction: here is a Romeo who will go to his death for the love of his Juliet. Who wouldn't do that when that role is sung so delicately and affectingly as by Gruberova, then at the absolute height of her powers, as indeed was Baltsa? Raffanti's openthroated Italian tenor is just right for Tebaldo's bold incursions. Gwynne Howell and John Tomlinson both contribute effectively to what is a wholly engrossing performance. Now at mid price, this should be irresistible to anyone interested in the best in Bellinian interpretation.'