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“Robin Lough's direction for the cameras is faithful to Loy's conception and the outstanding cast...Volle holds the stage as Dr Schön/Jack the Ripper; Eichenholz's Lulu ensnares and is also vulnerable...As presented here, Lulu is an emotional and musical roller-coaster.” International Record Review, July/August 2010

“Pappano has a firm grip of every nuance of the music, from the gossamer-like delicacy after the dialogue at the end of Act II to the various moments of wrenching, disturbing power.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2010 ***

“[Loy] wants us to work hard, to forget chasing any scent or taint of voyeurism...while Pappano is keen to bring clarity, both in his conducting and his talking...Like many productions now staged with an eye to DVD release, the 16:9 shape of the stage and intimacy of gesture certainly make more sense now than they did in the theatre...Will Hartmann is a wonderfully open, naive Painter, a Schubertian young Wanderer” Gramophone Magazine, July 2011

“Les Troyens hasn't fared well on DVD, but this superb authentic-instrument performance of October 2003 from the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, equals Sir Colin Davis's pioneering original. Orchestrally it's everything we've come to expect from Gardiner's Berlioz, his tempi swift and dynamic, sharing the composer's delight in complex rhythmic interplay, yet always propelling the drama. Passages like Andromache's entrance and Hector's ghost nevertheless have their proper gravitas and sombre hues against the brighter shades of Carthage. Colour is the great gift of the period instruments, revealing a wide range of sonorities, and creating a sense of freshness and discovery. The effect is sometimes rawer, sometimes more classical, but almost always more complex and dramatic than the homogenised modern sound. Gardiner's singers, too, could hardly be more committed. Anna Caterina Antonacci is a fiery Cassandra, superbly classical-looking, so wrung and tormented that some moments of strain scarcely matter. Gregory Kunde tackles Aeneas with ringing tone, looks and acts pretty well, and brings a welcome bel canto touch to the gorgeous duet. Susan Graham, though, needs no caveats: a radiant Dido, queenly yet youthful, lyrical and lighter-toned than Janet Baker, but in her final despair no less tragically moving. Other roles are generally excellent. The mostly youthful chorus sounds marvellous, and is a constant force in Yannis Kokkos's moderately modern production. The stage is plain and bare, capped by a reflector in which most of the décor appears: an Italian Renaissance cityscape for Troy, and the Horse only as a menacing head. Carthage is a classical vision of white walls and blue sea with stylised ships. The Trojans wear the inescapable greatcoats the brutal Greeks, inevitably, American combat gear, and the Carthaginians vaguely North African whites and pastels. This is a mostly straightforward, lively staging which lets characters and drama speak for themselves, and so works well on screen. The magnificent high-definition recording does it ample sonic and visual justice. For anyone who loves Les Troyens, this is a revelatory and essential performance.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“while Padrissa's computer projections and airborne acrobats achieve memorable visions, he underproduces the human element. Embattled Troy is a dystopian ruin under nuclear dustclouds, the robotic Trojan Horse unleashing, like an internet 'Trojan', computer breakdown...Padrissa makes the only real stab I've seen at Berlioz's spectacular scenario for the Royal Hunt...Gergiev relishes the score's exotic colours.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2011 ****

“The cast in Valencia has its strengths, prime among them the proud, brassy mezzo of Daniela Barcellona as Dido...Elisabete Matos is a properly intense Cassandra, and Lance Ryan as an Aeneas visiting from another planet, ray gun in hand, balances the lyrical and heroic sides of the role nicely...Gergiev rouses the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valencia to some energetic playing.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2011

“This opera, premiered at the Royal Opera last April, seems to me to be a masterpiece, of the kind that one feels the greatness of before one has a complete understanding of it. …the Minotaur is a terrifying and pained figure. This performance is the climax of John Tomlinson's career, in a part written with his huge, gravelly voice in mind. The other compelling figure is Ariadne... Christine Rice, bearing the weight of exposition and of suffering, uses her wonderfully rich mezzo to stunning effect.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2008 *****

“The filming reinforces the strengths of Stephen Langridge's tightly controlled, potently expressive production in an economical yet atmospheric setting, with the whole ensemble totally engaged in the drama's dark enterprise. Repeated hearings underline that, in the end, this tragedy is the more convincing for the way its turn towards pathos does not involve any false consolation.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2009

“Birtwistle's latest large-scale music drama, written for Covent Garden, is a quite different experience on DVD: what might have been planned by composer and stage director to be witnessed from a distance is shown in unsparing close-up. But this seething, monumental reinvention of one of the most disquieting Greek myths – with a pithy libretto by David Harsent – is neither betrayed nor diminished by this excellent film. Only in its final stages does the opera's focus shift decisively to the doomed Minotaur from the scheming Ariadne, and the drama's most essential point is that this Ariadne – as different from Strauss's as Birtwistle's Orpheus is different from Gluck's – is in her own way as much of a monster as the half-man/half-bull. These demanding roles are projected with maximum musical eloquence by Christine Rice and Sir John Tomlinson, no doubt because – as Rice makes clear in the absorbing 30-minute documentary that accompanies the performance – what is demanding is also intensely rewarding to singers prepared to commit themselves to a steep learning curve. Equal commitment is evident in Johan Reuter's Theseus, the conventions of heroic posturing given new depth and relevance in text, music and vocal acting alike. We see little of Antonio Pappano and his orchestra, but the excellent sound never lets us escape the inexorable magnetism of the instrumental continuum.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“Under the shrewd direction of McVicar, Anne Sofie von Otter gave us a gypsy of mercurial temperament, a tease, a dangerous flirt, and a woman intensely conscious of her sexual magnetism and of her public notoriety” The Telegraph

“Violent, passionate,superbly played…Glyndebourne's Carmen is simply gripping” Sunday Times

“A fantastic two-disc set...a performance that truly is what opera theoretically aspires to be: sung drama” New York Times

“In the grip of violent emotions, Anne Sofie von Otter paints a complete 'Carmen'” Los Angeles Times

“Pappano in the pit takes the whole thing at a tremendous lick while coaxing some lovely playing from the Royal Opera House Orchestra. For all that, this is opera as spectacle with good tunes attached.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2008 ***

“traditionalists can relax with the Royal Opera's Raymond Gubbay-style, grand-opera Carmen. Antonio Pappano…steers the music with panachet… The production has a star in Jonas Kaufmann's José, a dangerous, lived-in interpretation of the part, sung and acted with a rare ability... Antonacci's Carmen works hard - she's stylish and genuinely sexy... Norah Amsellem's Micaëla is well vocalised and presented but never quite breaks through into a complete character.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2008

“If a Barcelona Carmen suggests authentic atmosphere, forget it. It's staged by Calixto Bieito, notorious for shock-effect productions...On home ground, though, he's comparatively restrained, although he does update the opera to the 1970s...Beatrice Uria-Monzon's veteran Carmen is compelling. Roberto Alagna equals his Met video, fluently lyrical while indicating the hair-trigger violence beneath.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2011 **

“Updating rarely makes such a seamless case for itself as in this modern production of Carmen...Alagna has always had a certain Mad Max side to his temperament that, combined with his Italianate lyric tenor, has made him one of the best Don Joses in the business.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2012

“Piollet launches the opera thrillingly; however exhilarating the energy, the playing remains disciplined, with mingled grace and fire. Conductor and orchestra sustain that level throughout, with well-judged rubato and frequently an unerring light touch.” International Record Review, December 2011