Josephine Barstow gives a splendid reading, tough and incisive... Philip Langridge brings out the characters bravado, the quality which first attracted him to the queen but then finally destroyed the man. Though Langridges voice is mellifluous and flexible in the lute songs, its bright, cutting quality helps to enhance that characterization. The rest of the cast is equally starry... it is generous casting to have such outstanding and characterful singers as Bryn Terfel, Willard White, John Shirley-Quirk and John Mark Ainsley in tiny roles, all very well suited. Sir Charles Mackerras directs the Welsh National Opera forces in a performance that brings out the colourful genre pieces that have become known separately. The Decca recording, made in Brangwyn Hall, is comparably splendid, a crowning achievement in the complete cycle of Britten operas begun by the composer himself. The Penguin Guide