Edita Gruberova

"Gruberova ornaments every second verse with imagination and taste; her trill is one of the most perfected before the public these days, and hers is singing with a real face, a real vocal presence.(...) Nightingale's recorded sound is superb (the production is by the Bavarian Radio), and the multilingual notes in the accompanying booklet are informative and intelligent." (Henry Fogel in Andante)

"...Nightingale's recording does an excellent job of making this most familiar of Viennese operetta scores seem as fresh and sparkling as a just-poured glass of vintage champagne. Friedrich Haider's conducting is light and stylish, with just enough swing in the big tunes and dramatic punch in the ensembles to keep the listener enthralled, no matter how trite the fleeting phrase. Haider's tasteful use of rubato, his flair for picking tempos that allow the singers to project the sometimes tricky text and negotiate the awkward intervals, and his Harnoncourt-like ability to keep instrumental timbres differentiated all bear witness to a real appreciation for the music and an uncommon ability to make it sound greater than the sum of its parts." (E. Thomas Glasow in Opera Quarterly)

"Beatrice's final number, "Ah, se un urna" is the music Chopin wished to hear on his deathbed, and Gruberova's performance of this typically Bellinian aria is one of the many highlights of this set, illuminated by her mastery and understanding of the bel canto idiom." (Niel Rishoi)

"The balance between voices and orchestra is well judged, and the recording is produced with as much care for the drama as for the music. " (J.B. Steane in Gramophone)

"...Even in the expanded form--the way it is usually performed and is heard here--[the opera] shows a notable economy of means and moves ahead with an almost Verdi-like swiftness... [Gruberova's] voice is gorgeously luminous... and her work has a bearing that gives credibility to her characterization..." (American Record Guide)