Il Pomo d'Oro play with theatrical verve and Fagioli's rapid high passages are astonishing

Throughout, Riccardo Minasi encourages the brass, in particular, to flare dramatically in support of the martial or otherwise militant feelings of the counter-tenor hero...Fagioli, for all his occasional exaggerations, remains a truly dramatic exponent of this repertoire and he evokes its milieu with panache and no little sensitivity.

I think I was about ninety seconds in when I decided that it was one of my records of the year...Fagioli takes it all in his stride with infectious brio: gleaming high As and Bs abound...Dazzled as I was by the vocal pyrotechnics, I couldn’t fail to notice the scintillating playing of Il Pomo d’Oro: sample the delightfully raucous natural horns in that opening track.

Fagioli can sound like a Cecilia Bartoli impersonator, with his ascents to soprano range and machinegun coloratura, but he captures Caffarelli’s reputed vainglory in Vinci’s splendidly trumpety martial number.

It's a jaw-dropping disc. Fagioli is one of today's great vocal technicians, and the ease and almost superhuman agility with which he attacks some of the big bravura numbers are simply staggering.

Fagioli scintillates in this beautifully sung, played, programmed, and packaged recording...Minasi directs a vivacious performance from Il Pomo d’oro while Fagioli displays outstanding technique and alluring tone.