Several days ago, I had written that the tracking of the package showed that it had been returned as "cannot deliver", because of an incorrect zip code. (To date, I have received no response.) Having checked my order confirmation, I see that I had given the CORRECT shipping address of St.Louis 63177-5103. Thus I cannot explain why someone in your organization chose to send it to 63115. I am, therefore, still awaiting the order's arrival.I will be happy to give a review, once the package arrives.Regards,John Batzel; P.O.. Box 5103; St. Louis, Mo. 63177-5103

The conducting is often much too slow and would have been capable of blunting some of the dramatic moments. But these singers are intense. Their voices are huge and focused and the phrasing is dramatically apt and exciting. Rita Gorr is an exemplary Eboli - what an experience is that voice!

Gwyneth Jones was a truly excellent Verdi soprano and an especially good Elisabetta. She always captures the character's patrician nobility and makes her difficult music sound easy. Here we get to hear her in the rarely done (at that time) first act. Downes cuts the whole act down to about 16 minutes (it IS a long opera), but Jones sings the scene with Carlo very well indeed.Gorr is a fiery, formidable Eboli. Some of the role lies too high for her (the end of "O don fatale"), yet she never disgraces herself. Prevedi is uneven, sometimes very persuasive, sometimes very pitch-challenged. Glossop is a handsome Rodrigo who actually trills when the composer requires him to. Christoff is a frightening, yet human King whose "Ella giammai m'amo" is warmly applauded. Ward is a strong Inquisitor with good low notes. Downes makes a few trims early on and cuts all of the music after Rodrigo's death. He does, however, give us a nearly uncut final act.The sound is good and pitched correctly. There are some tape source problems at the beginning of Act Three, but they clear up within a minute or so.Maybe not a Don Carlo for the ages, but fans of the singers should get this (especially Jones and Gorr admirers.)

There are some real treasures in this performance. Gwyneth Jones sings one of her best Elisabettas here, bar a moment in the final duet when she is infected by the tenor's tendency to flatness. Peter Glossop is a wonderfully virile Posa: for once I could understand why everyone should turn to him as a pillar of strength, rather than just another of the "wealthy curled darlings" of the court. Caught between such extremes of femininity and masculinity, no wonder Carlo was confused. Christoff's distinctive timbre will not suit all ears and Rita Gorr is stretched by the very closing lines of "O don fatale", but these are strong performances. David Ward is a sonorous Inquisitor - another treasure.Where this performance really scores, however, is in the inclusion of the first act, set in Fontainebleau, where the suppression of youthful mutual attraction sets the scene for the tragedy that is to come. It allows us to hear in context the music that occurs as a reminiscence in Elisabetta's final scena. Although I think there are some cuts, it is particularly good to hear Jones in music not included in her other performances of this opera, sung with appealing and particularly youthful bloom. Despite the constricted sound and vocally wayward Don Carlo, the inclusion of this first act is enough for an additional star.

This is a mixed bag. Prevedi is only adequate as Carlos, Glossop outstanding as Rodrigo, Christoff electrifying as Philip 2nd he gives a consummate performance of Ella giammai m’amo. Rita Gorr has her momentsas Eboli although the end of O don fatale is really not in her voice. The gleam and shine on Gwyneth Jones’ voice was for me the real revelation of the performance. She turns Elisabetta into a real character, warm and passionate by turns. The conducting is good but I don’t really understand the accolades Edward Downes always received for his Verdi in the UK - it is hardly revelatory but he supports the singers well and rises to the challenges of this mighty score without showing any real insights. The sound is adequate.