Felicity Palmer

“Vivid as Hickox's traversal of the score for Chandos may be, Bedford's is just that much more alert, crisper. With his long experience of Britten in the theatre, dating back to Death in Venice under the composer's aegis, his timing carries unique authority and, in better sound than the old Decca set can now offer, he even has the edge over the composer's obviously definitive reading. Bedford's players are at least as accomplished as Hickox's, and are caught in a more immediate, less reverberant acoustic.
As for the singers, in almost every case Bedford's are the equal of, or superior to, Hickox's and several surpass Britten's. For instance, Albert was never one of Peter Pears's happiest assumptions; Christopher Gillett makes a more credible mother's boy and does well when he decides to break loose. Where the crucial role of Lady Billows is concerned, Josephine Barstow's commanding performance may not quite be on a par with Sylvia Fisher for Britten, but the difference is small. Susan Gritton gives us a dotty and cleanly sung Miss Wordsworth (Margaret Ritchie, the role's creator, must have sounded like this), Robert Lloyd is a simpleton of a Budd (as well sung as any), and Felicity Palmer makes a wonderfully fussy Florence Pike.
It only remains to laud once again the score's many delights as regards technical mastery and subtle characterisation, and to suggest you hurry off to enjoy a real bargain.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Gillett in the title-tole has a clear, youthful-sounding tenor...What secures the set's success is the way that in the ensembles Bedford secures such crispness, wittily lifting rhythms, making the music swagger. At the Naxos reissue price this is a phenomenal bargain” Penguin Guide, 2010 ***

“Between them, The Yeomen of the Guard and Trialby Jury contain all that's best in Sullivan's music for the theatre. In the former there's some of his more serious and ambitious writing, in the latter some of his most consistently light-hearted and engaging. All of this is brought out in Telarc's series of recordings with Welsh National Opera.
As always, Sir Charles Mackerras paces the music impeccably, and he has assured contributions from such stalwarts as Donald Adams, Felicity Palmer and Richard Suart. The last-named may be a shade light-voiced compared with some of the more comic performers of Jack Point and the Learned Judge; but in The Yeomen it's surely his performance that stands out. His handling of the dialogue after 'Here's a man of jollity' is masterly, and his 'Oh, a private buffoon' is as winning as any, with impeccable clarity of diction and a perfectly judged French accent for 'jests… imported from France'.
Neill Archer and Alwyn Mellor are admirable as Fairfax and Elsie; but Pamela Helen Stephen could have displayed more of the minx in Phoebe Meryll's personality, while in Trial byJury Barry Banks has too small a voice to convince as the Defendant. Recommended, especially if you want both works on the same set.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

'This CD contains one of the masterpieces of British music of the last century ... Savitri deserves a place of honour on the shelf marked "British" (International Record Review)

“…Bychkov trumps the competition spectacularly. He conducts the score uncut and summons up all its exultant power; but in addition to the growling savagery of Solti and others he finds rare warmth and glow. Felicity Palmer is an imperious Klytämnestra who really sings the notes. Anna Schwanewilms sounds appropriately feminine even in Chrysothemis's most demanding moments. ...this is a recording no one who cares about Strauss should be without.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2006 *****