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“…underpinned by the incisive modern instruments of Britten Sinfonia, the new release has both a fine sense of style and is full of refreshing insights… Tempos - after a slightly low-key start - are well judged, and the choir, the odd momentary hint of strain aside, sings with an effortless control and well-modulated fluency that takes wing when gutsiness is added to the mix.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2009

“…there is plenty of music-making here that has the lightness, textures and vocabulary of period style, but there is also the spiritual grandeur (and interventionist treatment of the score) of the great Northern choral society tradition. Julia Doyle is a charismatic Angel/narrator... and her embellishment recapitulation of the line "I know that my Redeemer liveth" is spine-tingling. Andrew Foster-Williams's singing is marvellous... Iestyn Davies's... ornamentation is "But who may abide" is masterful for its stylish vocabulary and expressive wisdom... Layton's affection for the oratorio is frequently discernible, not least in the technical and communicative qualities of Polyphony's exceptional singing of the choruses.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2009

“The 16 strings of Britten Sinfonia make the most of Handel’s wonderfully varied accompaniments (their Why do the nations is hair-raising), the 31-strong Polyphony are excellent... and Layton’s direction is vivid and masterly.” Sunday Times, 20th December 2009 ****

“Ricci's orchestral writing is remarkably original, and he has a fine sense of theatre. The closing scene, in which Delizia, now a nun, denies Roggero sanctuary in her convent and hands him over to a bloodthirsty lynch mob, has considerable power.” The Guardian, 12th June 2009 ***

“…Federico Ricci's score is in no way unworthy. …the music has its own individuality - and it confers a sufficient individuality upon the characters too. The tenor here is the young, clear-voiced and stylish Dmitry Korchak. Corrado is James Westman, a baritone well supplied with high A flats for his cabaletta and with a well placed voice sometimes recalling Sherrill Milnes. ...Dimitra Theodossiou... has a comparably strong dramatic instinct. ...the voice is well contrasted with the lighter soprano of Cora Burggraaf who plays Margarita, the "other woman"... Good work by orchestra and chorus under Roland Böer, who shows a sure feeling for the style.” Gramophone , Awards 2009

“In Davis's hands, its [the opera's] originality and imagination are fully vindicated. The cast attack the piece with skill and immense vigour. Gregory Kunde rises to the full stature of Berlioz's thinly disguised self-portrait of the artist as romantic hero. Davis's identification with the score brings out the best in his forces, allowing this neglected work to register as a masterpiece.” The Guardian Concert Review *****

“Compared with The Damnation of Faust, Béatrice et Benedict and The Trojans, Benvenuto Cellini has always been Berlioz's Cinderella opera, a strange mixture of farcical comedy and hymn to the supremacy of art. But Colin Davis vindicates its dramatic qualities magnificently in this recording, despite the fact that it derives from concert performances. Its success is partly down to the vibrant playing of the LSO, but also to the way the cast members seem to interact vocally as if they were on stage. And the cast itself, mainly of younger singers, is very fine indeed, led by the resolute Cellini of Gregory Kunde.” The Telegraph, 3rd May 2008

“Conductor and tenor are the joint heroes of this exhilarating release...The American tenor Gregory Kunde doesn’t have the most immediately appealing timbre, but the high tessitura holds no terrors for him, his sung French is good and, even in his early fifties, he manages to counterfeit the youthful braggadocio of Berlioz’s likeable rapscallion. Davis remains the supreme Berliozian of our day, brilliantly evoking the mercurial wit of the comic repartee, the abandoned gaiety of the Roman carnival and the high drama and suspense of the climactic scene in the foundry, for the casting of Perseus...At LSO prices, this is a steal, and anyone who doesn’t know this fabulous score should snap it up.” Sunday Times, 27th April 2008 ****

“The combination of technology and the conductor's unimpaired élanmakes for glowing textures and shattering climaxes.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2008 ****

“Davis and Co give Berlioz's joyous opera all the love and vitality it deserves. In a score that grows and growls from the bottom up, Davis's Berlioz sound comes into its own, certainly weightier than Nelson or Norrington but always watchful as the melodies and cross-rhythms cascade across the barlines.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2008

“Both in the opera-aware 'grands' motets of Campra or the intimate 'petits' specimens of his contemporary, François Couperin, William Christie and his peerless forces match effortless command with idiomatic suavity.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2009 ****

“…Maurizio Benini draws a strong and stylish performance from the London Philharmonic, and the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir makes vivid contributions. Susan Patterson… delivers her opening cabaletta with bravura and generally discloses a soprano of impressive amplitude.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2009 ****

“Maurizio Benini conducts with appreciative understanding of the traditions and his players bring out the full flavour of Mercadante's imaginative score. …the only soloist of whom much is asked in the way of florid singing is the soprano, and Susan Patterson has mastered the technical difficulties of her role with impressive success.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2009