'Opera Rara has just completed a studio recording; and the two-act melodramma was given a spine-chilling and timber-shivering concert performance.

'Bellini's fourth opera, La straniera, marked out the composer as one of the leading figures of the post-Rossini generation... the composer spins out long lines and focuses on the lyric element as the main tool of expression. Italian soprano Patrizia Ciofi brings the composer's strong characterisation of Alaide to the fore, and triumphs... her beauty of tone and absolute commitment make the numbers in which she appears utterly compelling.

David Parry's conducting of the soloists, the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir and the London Philharmonic is impeccable, not merely propelling the music forward but loosening the reins where the singers need time to maximise the expression.'

The London Philharmonic was conducted by David Parry whose masterly control of the nerve-system of this mobile, highly charged melodic declamation was as superb as the singing of the Geoffrey Mitchell Choir.'