Verdi
“To have a long-buried Verdi opera dusted down and given a brilliant first recording like this is a rare joy, particularly when it confounds the adverse verdict trumpeted for 140 years. Jérusalem is the radical reworkin of Verdi’s second big success, I Lombardi, which he made for the Paris Opéra in 1847, his first essay in setting French. This premiere recording offers brilliant sound and fine, incisive playing from the Suisse Romande Orchestra, with electrifying singing from the Geneva Chorus… Marcello Giordani as the hero, Gaston, is youthfully fresh and Marina Mescheriakova is a sweetly vibrant heroine.” The Penguin Guide