All the Bartoli hallmarks are here: the ear-popping virtuosity, the tenderness of voice, the ability not only to describe a situation but to respond to it, and the complex skill of painting a character in vocal terms. Characteristically some features fall on the minus side – for example, the occasional tendency for the words to disappear into high-pitched squeaks or odd vowel sounds - yet her interpretations are distinctive, deep and utterly compelling.

The Italian mezzo-cum-soprano has lost nothing of her famed agility and colouristic range, or her penchant for expressive extremes…At times I longed for more straightforward simplicity, more of her natural mezzo warmth. Yet even when one bridles at her mannerisms, she compels with her command of the long lines and her palpable emotional engagement.

Bartoli’s wiry, astonishingly agile voice remains in pristine condition...Her trademark machine-gun coloratura continues to astound in arias like the opening ‘Se lento ancora fulmine’ from Argippo...In the half-dozen slow laments...the command of long lines which Bartoli’s developed in the course of projects like Norma really comes into its own, as does the additional muscle and bite which she’s acquired in the lower-middle register over the last decade or so.

Bartoli’s medium-sized, but molten instrument still navigates coloratura flourishes with a precision and secure pitch that many other mature singers would envy. An early tendency to breathe notes into being has been tamed, and her dramatic gifts are as strong as ever.