Banks delivers a dazzlingly authoritative account of the title role...A front-rank lighter-weight Rossini tenor, he may not possess the bronzed tones of Bruce Ford...but from the start he throws off notes and words with such fearless hauteur that all comparisons soon cease.

Classical Opera’s recording has plenty of vitality and a cast who romp through their virtuoso arias.

Banks dispatches the fiendish demands of the [title-]role with impressive security and vividness...A consistent cast without any weak links. Classical Opera's achievement is at least the equal of any version hitherto in the opera's distinguished discography.

[Page] reveals it to be a masterpiece of variety, pacing and colour, whatever the composer's age, and his direction gives a coherent shape to the whole piece. The action zips along with energy, and each aria, so different from the one before, seems to open up a whole new landscape for the listener to explore. It's very exciting, and if you already know Mozart's later masterpieces then I urge you to seek out this one to see what you're missing

This performance under Ian Page is a first-rate ensemble effort in an opera that carries no passengers when it comes to vocal pyrotechnics … This splendid achievement…is given added documentary value by the inclusion of a fourth CD containing the original versions of eight arias the teenage Mozart changed at the behest of his cast.

Barry Banks brings his light-toned lyric tenor heroically to bear on the cruelly demanding title role. His Aspasia, Miah Persson...singing a strongly-characterized performance in excellently enunciated Italian. Page’s strong credentials as a Mozartian are enhanced with each new degrees of light and shade than has sometimes been the case.

Ian Page's ongoing, broadly chronological series of the complete Mozart operas has yielded some real treasure so far in terms of the early works, and there's knock-out vocal virtuosity from all concerned here - particularly Barry Banks as the eponymous ruler and Miah Persson as the beleaguered Aspasia.

This excellent recording is probably the one that Mozart completists will want to have: it contains not only unflaggingly stylish virtuosic singing...but also a useful compendium of seven previously unrecorded arias and a duet...The supporting soloists are also first rate, and Ian Page and the Orchestra of the Classical Opera company provide exemplary accompaniment throughout.

the arias are exciting and Ian Page’s conducting of the Orchestra of Classical Opera provides both momentum and detail… His cast is up to the vocal demands, which are bravura in the extreme.