If this was, indeed, Bartoli’s first Isabella, it was worth the wait…Nowadays she’s a consummate comedienne whose work looks especially well on film. As for her singing, one would be hard-pressed to find a better-sung Isabella…Abdrazakov is a thoroughly schooled bass who shows deftness of touch in passages of quick-fire coloratura…Olvera gives a performance in the Julie Walters class as the excruciatingly unattractive Elvira.

“Ensemble Matheus under conductor Jean-Christophe Spinosi, are splendid performers throughout... The picture quality of the Blu-ray disc is perfect and the LPCM sound is wonderfully clear for the singers, and offers plenty of orchestral detail which is especially important with a period ensemble.”

Bartoli’s Isabella is remarkable, her voice sounding almost as lithe and luscious as ever, and her coloratura still phenomenal—and, what is more, expressive. She bites into the text with relish, and like Abdrazakov has fun with the staging...Corbelli gives one of his classic buffo performances as Taddeo: he knows what to do with the material on a second-by-second, bar-by-bar basis...Overall, this is great operatic entertainment on a lavish budget.

Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s witty, well-intentioned production does what it can to diffuse the work’s irreverent attitude to Islam...Bartoli negotiates the title-role with canny panache, judiciously ornamenting upwards where possible and deploying her chest register to great dramatic and often comic effect. She’s aided by the transparent, pleasantly astringent playing of Ensemble Matheus under Jean-Christophe Spinosi, who provide a whippy springboard for Bartoli’s many flights of coloratura.

Superstar mezzo Cecilia Bartoli beguiles her way through L’italiana in Algeri, filmed last year in Salzburg... she looks and sounds wonderful as Isabella, relishing both the languorous lines and coloratura of the role…