Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
This set is what early music or baroque opera purists might call politically incorrect. The orchestra at Venice's La Fenice is too big, the playing is Romantic, with plenty of rubato and not crisp, and very few of the singers get through the music as Handel wrote it or embellish it the way he wished. But it does feature Joan Sutherland at her most amazing. Her huge voice, pure tone, impeccable technique, seamless legato, and glorious ease are the definition of bel canto. London/Decca recorded her in the role, with a much better cast, in 1963, but that set is currently unavailable. While this two-CD release is not ideal, it does present Alcina in much of its loveliness. --Robert Levine

Rating: - Handel's Alcina (with audience)
Musically and vocally this recording is good. What is rather disruptive are the stage sounds - thumps, bumps and knocks, probably due to the poor placement of the microphones where they pickup extra stage as well as audience noise. Technology when recording live performances has improved greatly, this however should not detract from the overall excellence of the singers and the musical direction of this recording.

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Rating: - Pleasant, but that's all
I don't know what opera these reviewers were listening to, but it damned sure wasn't the one I got today. It just finished. I was led to believe (which is why I bought it) that it was a glorious coruscating example of Sutherland in her prime (which in my opinion she never lost). Well, it wasn't. It barely passes as coloratura at all, there are no leaps, no nothing. It is pleasant, if that's all you want. I do not believe that this is the opera and the place that gave Sutherland the sobriquet ... Read More

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Rating: - Great performance from La Stupenda
However, I MUCH prefer (although the sound is quite murky) her 1959 performance in Handel's "Rodelinda" - her final aria is unreal; the rest of it ain't bad, either! And, for anyone interested in hearing her in fresher voice for some "Alcina" arias, pick up her "Art of Joan Sutherland" collection - it includes all arias from her "Command Performance" album, and her french album, and then some :)

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Rating: - oh, my a 12 yo basher? That's ridiculous.
Alcina sung in Venice earn sutheland the title "La Stupenda" Never, ever does Italian audiences ever do that for a foreign prima donna. But the singing is sublime. Sutherland with a voice of a trumpet and the agility of a flute. The Venetians have never heard anything like it. And they blocked La Stupenda from leaving the theater for 10 hours. And when she showed up at an restaurent, the entire place stood up for a prolonged ovation. That is the state of voice Sutherland was here, 1960. At that stage ... Read More

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Rating: - Why are you ruining Handel, Sutherland?
Sutherland muttering to herself in some indecipherable human tongue is not fun to listen to. Also, her huge voice ruins Handel's light orchestration. Also, Sutherland's coloratura technique is all wrong for Baroque coloratura. To hear true Baroque coloratura virtuosity, listen to Sills' renditions of "Non disperar; chi sa" and "Da tempeste in legno infranto" from "Giulio Cesare". Sills' embellishments are so difficult that, if Sutherland were to use them, she would collapse!