Boito: Son lo Spirito che nega (from Mefistofele)

“he has a superb voice which he uses intelligently and sensitively...Once you adjust to the pronounced echo, there is plenty of pleasure to be had here - from his singing and adventurous choice of repertoire alike...his dying Don Quichotte is especially fine.” BBC Music Magazine, September 2012 ****

“The best of his voice - a dark vocal plushness in his mid-range - emerges in the Toreador Song's verse portion, though beyond that he pushes for low notes that aren't really there...Declamatory passages go well for Schrott, especially when the language is Italian - one reason why some of the early Verdi arias are among the more convincing moments on the disc.” Gramophone Magazine, October 2012

“on disc, his pleasing lyric bass is a good fit for the characters he plays...this is far from the random bran-tub selection one now almost invariably encounters on recorded solo opera programmes of this type...[Don Quichotte's] valedictory music inspires some of Schrott's most sensitive singing...one of the most plausible champions of this repertoire in today's opera firmament.” International Record Review, September 2012

“Schrott finds perhaps his most rewarding role as Mefistofele in Boito's version of the Faust myth, reaching a feverish pitch of disgust as he derides mankind in "Ave Signor" and "Ecco il Mondo".” The Independent, 23rd June 2012 ***

“It's a bit of a mixed bag but, unlike some of his previous recordings, the best of it does capture the mixture of raunchiness and dramatic power he can generate in the theatre...[Pluses] include an electrifying Scintille Diamant from Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann; excerpts from Verdi's I Lombardi and Attila, in which his sense of line is magnificent; Mefistofele's principal monologues, savagely ironic...Flawed but highly recommended.” The Times, 12th July 2012 ****

“The wide range and changing tones are distinctive in this selection from Verdi, Boito, Gounod, Massenet, Bizet and beyond. One minute Schrott’s exploring the ocean depths of his register; the next he’s bobbing on the surface, bright as any tenor.” The Times, 22nd June 2012 ***

“…Terfel is a consummate singing actor. …what other artist could find such different voices for singing Il Commendatore, Don Giovanni and Leporello in the closing scene of Mozart's opera.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2009 ****

“Terfel, of course, brings the smell of the theatre into everything he does. His powerful vocal presence is born of physical presence and he harnesses words, in any language, like few others. Brecht's words for "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" casually slip off Terfel's cords like the threats of a slickly attired bouncer... Sweeney Todd's "Epiphany" (with a flash of Anne Sofie von Otter's cockney Mrs Lovett - not 'arf bad) is scary to behold...” Gramophone Magazine, November 2009

“Arguably the finest Italian bass of his time and acclaimed as the leading exponent of Don Giovanni, Cesare Siepi is heard here in roles central to his repertoire and lighter songs in which his sensitivity is to the fore.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2008 ****