Bicket’s artistic integrity makes his the definitive Rodelinda. His subtlety pays off especially in slow movements, which are more suspenseful and ravishing than in any previous recording...Crowe’s laments alone make this a must-have recording, but her steely bravura is equally gobsmacking.

The performance by the English Concert is quite good, with the tempos clearly in line with what Handel probably would have wanted; fast (or slow) enough to express the sentiments but easy enough to enhance the often tortuous passages in the vocal lines...the entire cast performs this opera with good phrasing and a good sense of Handel’s style.

[Davies is] as expressive a countertenor as they come, and his pure-toned singing has a star quality that makes his slow arias special. The recording’s other main attraction is Lucy Crowe in the lambent arias of the title role. Her voice has a distinctive softness at the top that lends a sensitive quality to loyal wife Rodelinda...Bicket and The English Concert’s Handel opera specialists have lost none of their vigour.

This new recording, more subtly directed and more consistently sung, now becomes my top recommendation for an opera that should be on any Handel lover’s shortlist.

Though Bicket’s booklet-note describes the challenges posed by having his players spread out over an unusually wide area, the ensemble is every bit as water-tight and responsive as we’ve come to expect from this A-team over the decades...in the Act Two pastoral ‘Con rauco memoria’ Davies delivers some of the most ravishing Handel-singing I’ve heard on disc…Crowe captures Rodelinda’s vulnerability and political savviness to perfection.

This new Rodelinda has a gorgeously sung heroine in Lucy Crowe, who only needs to sharpen her diction…and Iestyn Davies is near-ideal as Bertarido, rightful King of Lombardy…while the support is excellent: Jess Dandy as Bertarido’s sister Eduige with fruity low notes; Tim Mead, deluxe casting in Unulfo’s three superb arias; and Brandon Cedel, magnificent as Grimoaldo’s sidekick Garibaldo. Bicket propels the drama forward with inexorable momentum, his period band on top form. Highly recommended

[Crowe is] always brilliant in precision and expressive power...[Davies] invests every word, every note with intensity, and sends the dramatic temperature soaring at each entry...The English Concert’s playing is pliant, warm, elegant. If the rest of the project reaches this standard, we’re in luck.