"The early music group La Nuova Musica and leader David Bates keep things moving; the entire opera fits on a single CD. However, each detail is carefully considered and vivid. Sample the beginning of Act II, with the chorus warning of the furies of hell and Orfeo entering with his famous lyre. Orfeo is a plum countertenor role, but the sheer beauty of Iestyn Davies' performance here ranks among the greats, and he's ably backed by sopranos Sophie Bevan and Rebecca Bottone. A superior Orfeo ed Euridice"

"Opera choice: Bates is, like Gluck, wonderfully radical. Where other directors smooth over disjunctions, he revels in rupture ... This is directorship at its most alert, and aiding Bates is an optimal cast ... Iestyn Davies radiates Orfeo's impassioned tenderness, changing vocal colours as the drama demands. Sophie Bevan's Euridice swings, with blazing bravura and increasing intensity, from anguish to narcissism ... It's the stuff of Gluck's dreams"

"Bates hat sich mit senem Vokal- und Instrumentalensemble La Nuova Musica für diese Live-Einspielung eine frisch akzentuierte, knackige Partiturexegese zurechtgelegt, lebendiges Chiaroscuro, allem romantisch Schwammigen abhold ... Counter Iestyn Davies ist ein Orfeo von hohem stimmlichen Adel, wobei die Partie ihm ein Gran zu tief liegen scheint. Sophie Bevan als Euridice sowie Rebecca Bottone als Amore singen auf gutem Niveau. Man darf die Aufnahme ohne weiteres zu den erfreulichen Ereignissen in der Schallplattenrezeption dieses Werks zählen"