Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

“Nowadays Barenboim's 1971 Mozart might sound as Brucknerian as the Te Deum which keeps it company. But there's a majesty here which compels.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2009 ****

“Schrott knows how to change his voice’s colour, phrase by phrase, sometimes word by word, especially if the word is “Susanna”. As Figaro in the Mozart selections he’s attractively light and dancing; he can also drip with honey (Voici des roses from La Damnation de Faust) and scowl himself black (Meyerbeer’s Bertram, bound for Hell). Intimacy comes as easily, too, as the loud address: Philip’s monologue from Don Carlos (sung in French) conveys with unusual penetration the sense of someone thinking out loud, quiet and fearful.” The Times, 25th July 2008 ****

“Schrott is suave and honeyed in the serenades from Don Giovanni and Gounod’s Faust” Sunday Times, 27th July 2008 ***

“ Half the disc is devoted to Mozart and the three Da Ponte roles that made Schrott's name...But he often fares better in the quieter, more beguiling moments than in full flow - not usually the case on stage...three arias from Berlioz, Gounod and Meyerbeer bring out the dynamic devil in him.” The Observer, 3rd August 2008

“…has an exceptionally beautiful voice, which he uses to fine effect in some of these arias. Philippe's great aria from Don Carlos is impressive, so is Procida's from Les vêpres siciliennes, and his Berlioz, Gounod and Meyerbeer are striking too.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2008 ****

“Here, in all probability, is the basso cantante par excellence missing since the heyday of Samuel Ramey. The fine, resonant voice, wide in range, firm and even in delivery, is at home in a variety of styles.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2008

“In Carmignola, [Abbado] has an ideal soloist, prepared to rethink these delightful works, as well as the great Sinfonia Concertante, with violin and viola solos in the light of scholarly research and reappraisal. The results are little short of revelatory, especially in the concertos’ and Sinfonia’s fast outer movements. They scamper along at Carmignola’s vivacious tempi and provoke dazzling feats of virtuosity from the orchestral accompaniments, which sometimes sound polite. The soloist’s tone is bright and sweet (but never saccharine), and Abbado’s Bolognese band is already clearly a crack ensemble — the principal viola, Danusha Waskiewicz, brings lustrous tone and bravura to the Sinfonia’s second solo part, and it is a long time since I have heard such exhilarating, devil-may-care playing in the famous “Turkish” Rondo of the A major concerto. A marvellous set.” Sunday Times, 20th July 2008 ****

“Carmignola, renowned for his Baroque, is a clean interpreter of Mozart's violin concertos, his sweet-sounding strings flitting in well-matched dialogue with the attentive period detailing of Abbado's young ensemble.” The Times, 19th July 2008 ****

“[The conducting is] almost miraculous, with its exuberant, lively tempi, perfectly balanced lighter-than-air textures, and exquisite attention to the smallest details of phrasing and articulation. The sense of the players listening as intently to each other as they do to following Abbado's directions is obvious in every bar... There are a few moments in the violin concertos, and especially in the Sinfonia Concertante, when the music could benefit from a little more room to breathe, though Abbado and his soloists do show that the slow movement of the Sinfonia doesn't need to be taken as an indulgent adagio to weave its magical spell.” The Guardian, 18th July 2008 ****

“Complete technical fluidity, at the service of a lively musical imagination, backed up by some superbly shaped orchestral playing under Abbado.” BBC Music Magazine, Proms 2008 *****

“Mozart-conducting and interpretation are in the realms of greatness.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2008

“Virtuoso 'violinism' and energising direction notwithstanding, neither Giuliano Carmignola nor Claudio Abbado seems inspired by the B flat Concerto, K207. Nor does slick dispatch do much for the first movement of the D major, K211; but this is not the shape of things to come.
Carmignola steps away from neutrality in the succeeding Andante. The music breathes a life of its own as he ardently inflects its phrases to shape the tension and relaxation of his line which – as elsewhere – he also embellishes. And pauses are decorated with lead-ins. Here is personal involvement that from now on is present in full flower.
It's a flowering for Abbado too, as he summons a passionate advocacy that takes in the implications of key and time signatures on atmosphere and pacing, uses dynamic markings and intuitive accents to keep rhythm aloft, adjusts the timbres of the wind instruments (oboes are vivid or subdued, horns play in alto or basso) to suit the colouration he requires, and aerates the orchestral fabric for maximum clarity. Conducting and interpretation are in the realms of greatness – and no mistake.
In the solo concertos, Carmignola is recorded with varying but small changes of volume. His positioning is steadier in the Sinfonia concertante; and so is his placement with the artistic, if slightly reticent, Danusha Waskiewicz. Nevertheless, their skilled dovetailing and intelligent use of tone colour speak of symbiosis. Abbado remains primus inter pares, watchful, supportive and fortifying. Pity the sound isn't always clear and detailed. Superlative music making deserves consistently superlative recording.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“These recordings were made at Bologna in 2007 and must be ranked among the finest in this repertoire, whether on period or modern instruments. Impeccable recording.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition