Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

“It will surprise no-one who saw her Zerlina here last year or recently at Covent Garden that Miss Freni makes an enchanting Susanna, but Mr Blankenburg’s Figaro is new to English audiences and is entirely worthy of her, concealing a wealth of energy and passion beneath his chubby smile.” The Times, 1962

“Like Covent Garden, Glyndebourne is now delving into its rich archive of recordings, but these are in-house affairs, and the sound quality of this Figaro from 1962 is vastly superior to Covent Garden’s Don Giovanni under Solti from the same year. Two singers are common to both sets: the miraculous Mirella Freni, a Susanna in a thousand, and the recently deceased Turkish diva Leyla Gencer, as a grand Countess. It is the ensemble under Varviso’s inspired baton that counts here: one can only dream of a cast including Edith Mathis’s delicious Cherubino and Heinz Blankenburg’s feisty, resonant Figaro at Glyndebourne today. This production crackles with theatricality, and the orchestra is superb.” Sunday Times, 15th June 2008 ****

“A memorable night in the summer of 1962: it’s Glyndebourne at its best. As heard here, everything takes its place with a delightful combination of freshness and assurance.” Gramophone Magazine, July 2008

“Listening to this performance of Figaro, recorded 46 years ago, one feels that it is 'historic' but in almost no respect 'historical'. The sound is miraculously clear and full. The conducting of Silvio Varviso is a wonder of lucidity and grace… the cast is uniformly first-rate. No matter how many Figaros you have, this is an essential addition, with fresh insights bubbling to the surface every few moments.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2008 *****

“Glyndebourne and Figaro: they go together like Christmas and mistletoe. Except, of course, that at Glyndebourne you hope for a lovely summer evening. That vintage year of '62 was the one which saw the return of Carl Ebert to produce not only this Figaro but also Glyndebourne's first Pelléas.
The young Silvio Varviso also made his Glyndebourne debut as conductor of Figaro. Count (Gabriel Bacquier) and Countess (Leyla Gencer) were other newcomers and Mirella Freni was singing Susanna for the first time anywhere. As heard here, everything takes its place with a delightful combination of freshness and assurance, and the audience clearly (and more audibly after the interval) responds appreciatively.
The recording seems to catch the stage action almost as well as if it were a DVD, though the women's voices are apt to acquire that bright hard edge which is the accursed associate of digital remastering: still, not as badly as some.
Even dear old Hugues Cuénod is endowed with a more prickly forte than he surely ever had in his voice live. At least the two baritones are unaffected, and their performances, both as pure singing and as 'expression', are delightful.
Gencer's vibrant, almost tragic tone distinguishes her Countess, and as (nearly) always at Glyndebourne the ensemble work is a model of stylish efficiency.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“The early 1960s were a golden age for Glyndebourne and this is a true ensemble performance...with Mirella Freni's delightful Susanna and Edith Mathis's coltish Cherubino - how much better it is to have a soprano, not a mezzo, in the part! - there are no grounds for complaint. As the Countess, the underrated Leyla Gencer produces a nice pianissimo in the reprise of "Dove sono".” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2011

“The pianist Bronfman joins the Zukerman Chamber Players (violinist Pinky plus three young Canadians) for an excursion into the rural idyll of Schubert’s Trout Quintet. The irresistible swing that they generate comes from deep within the core of their bright sound. The slowings at cadences are of one mind, and you’re swept along by the andante’s pendulum dialogue and the bouncing repeated notes of the scherzo. The Trout Variations are the height of gentility until fury erupts as the fish is caught. The jaunty finale, each long note an elegant springboard dive, suggests that he leaps free. The shared engine also drives Mozart’s Piano Quartet in E flat K493 in a performance that sounds nothing but fun.” The Times, 27th June 2008 ****

“Not just a piano virtuoso of steely right-hand brilliance, Yefim Bronfman also uses his left hand - to accentuate bass-lines and generate harmonic tension.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2008

“Choosing steady tempos, Yefim Bronfman and his string accomplices take an unusually serious view of proceedings. There are moments of great lyrical eloquence. But Bronfman, Zukerman and co do not do Viennese charm. Too often - above all, in their sober finale - they miss a blitheness and rhythmic buoyancy crucial to any performance of this lovable work. The players' spacious, thoughtful approach is better suited to Mozart's E flat Piano Quartet. The first movement, close in spirit to the contemporary piano concertos, has an almost symphonic amplitude. Again, though, the finale is slightly po-faced, with little sense of Mozartian roguishness bubbling beneath the music's urbane surface.” Richard Wigmore, The Telegraph, 23rd August 2008

“Ziesak has a very pleasing light soprano” Classics Today