MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Busoni: Arlecchino / Turandot

"As for Nagano's performance, one could not wish for a finer, more persuasive modern recording (a 1954 Glyndebourne performance lays claim to the premiere recording of the opera). Ernst Theo Richter's spoken Arlecchino is outstanding-a performance of irresistible magnetism-and Thomas Mohr provides a fine account of the much put upon Matteo, but the opera is strongly cast throughout, with exceptionally committed supporting performances from Suzanne Mentzer, Stefan Dahlberg, Wolfgang Holzmair and Philippe Huttenlocher. The orchestral playing from the Lyon Opera Orchestra, is, as we have come to expect, quite superb, with Kent Nagano once again displaying his skill at finding the perfect dramatic pace whilst eliciting exceptionally elegant performances from his players." Gramophone