The music is imitation Lohengrin and the story is imitation Fidelio with more overt homosexual overtones. I find this odd yet touching since, if his biographies are to be believed, Smetana was a conquering hetero. The music is nonetheless very pretty and colorful though with some lovely melodies.Mackerras conducts with polish and there's always that smile in the music which is a Hallmark of his interpretation. But here, as with almost all of his performances, that interpretation lacks weight. There are so many parallels to Wagner here and whether or not you like that kind of thing--and whether or not you agree with it--there is little of Wagner in this performance. It's been compared to Lohengrin but there are also echoes of Tannhauser and other early Wagner operas--some of it sounds lifted straight from Das Rheingold too. However, he's always been a champion of Czech composers and it shows here.Like most recordings of opera in English, especially these live recordings from the ENO, the listener can only understand about 30-50% of the words. Anne Evans has the rare combination of girlishness AND a super-heavyweight dramatic voice, with a rock solid technique and pretty blonde timbre. She is always poised and expressive enough, but like most British opera singers she seems a bit uncomfortable with passionate emotionalism. The passion is expressed but I'm not sure I buy it.Mitchinson is committed and sings with conviction. He's especially touching and magnetic when singing about his friend, Zdeněk. He's got a robust, ringing, manly dramatic/robusto tenor and that puts us on his side. But it's not a beautiful timbre, and he's perceptibly strained in the upper range. Sometimes it sounds like his voice has had some hard use in heavy roles. Conoley partners her well and she has a slightly darker voice which blends nicely. Ramon Remedios sounds a lot like his older brother Alberto, only lighter in weight and tone. The rest of the cast is adequate. Whatever the casts' shortcomings, I'd still rather take any of them over most of the opera singers performing today.The orchestra and chorus are mostly up to the task but there are moments that make me question how much rehearsal time they had with it.There aren't many recordings of this opera, and this is the only one I know of that is in English. Whether you're just curious about this opera, or whether you're a huge fan, I can warmly recommend this recording.

One of the many special things about Opera Depot is the number of rarely-encountered works it offers us, including this excellent recording. I recall the production very well, from a period when the ENO had an excellent team of house singers and was willing to indulge the specialist tastes of its conductors. Thanks to the likes of Mackerras, Groves, Lloyd-Jones, Elder et al I got to see fully staged productions of operas like Dalibor, Julietta, Rienzi, Mazeppa, I due Foscari, Euryanthe, Mr Broucek, which have never come my way again in the subsequent decades. As in every performance of hers that I attended Anne Evans is superb and sings with thrilling commitment and abandon. John Mitchinson never possessed a very attractive tone, but he also brings his usual heroic quality to the performance and at times brings a lovely gentle sound to the role. Diction is as good as it usually was back in those days. I actually like operas in English since it was the WNO and ENO that introduced me to staged live opera back in the 60s and 70s.

While not as star-laden as the RCA recording from Vienna, this English National Opera production is every bit as good, if not better. All roles are cast from strength and those familiar with Dame Anne Evans' lyrical, feminine, technically superb Brünnhilde will find those salient qualities present in her rousing Milada. John Mitchinson is a clarion hero, and both Dennis Wicks' jailer and Neil Howlett's king excel. But the catalyst is the thrilling and idiomatic leadership of Sir Charles Mackerras. "Dalibor" belongs in the standard repertory--or so Mackerras persuades the listener. This is one of Opera Depot's very finest releases, featuring crystal-clear stereo reproduction. Bravo!

Having seen this production when it was new and also having the broadcast on cassette for years ,it was a pleasure to buy in decent sound.Mitchinson was underrated and here shows a commitment to the character of Dalibor that is very affective.Although Evans sang a variety of roles for the ENO ,for me this was the one that showed her true potential in every way. Great performance all round,the only quibble is Neil Howlett,could never listen with much joy to his quick vibrato.

I was at the first night of this run of performances and the experience is still vivid in my memory. Dalibor was a work I did not know, but I was thrilled by every aspect of the music, the staging and the singing. Anne Evans and Anne Connolly duetting at the end of the first scene is one of the most thrilling pieces of singing I have heard live; Anne Evans, well on her way to Brunnhilde at this point in her career, sweeps all before her in a deeply committed and gloriously sung performance; Anne Conolly was surely destined to follow in her steps, but her career does not seem to have developed further. Add in Neil Howlett (who died recently) and his persuasive, lovely baritone, a tireless John Mitchinson (maybe lacking a bit of poetry) and a conductor steeped in this music and you have a dream team! English diction is very good, and Mackerras's conducting ensures an authentic feel to the whole performance. Sound is good, and delighted to have this, many years after my tapes gave out after repeated playing. Don't miss this!