The Daily Telegraph
'As the quack doctor, Dulcamara, bass-baritone Andrew Shore once more exhibits his command of the opera buffa manner, every syllable and note clearly enunciated. He is very much the life and soul of the performance.'
Opera in two acts
Libretto by Felice Romani
after Eugène Scribe's Le Philtre
English version by Arthur Jacobs
The Cast
Barry Banks, tenor (PMF Scholar) - Nemorino
Mary Plazas, soprano (PMF Scholar) - Adina
Ashley Holland, baritone - Belcore
Andrew Shore, baritone - Dr Dulcamara
Helen Williams, soprano - Giannetta
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Philharmonia Orchestra
David Parry - conductor
Recorded in Blackheath Halls, London
7-11 February 1999
Producer - Brian Couzens
Sound engineer - Jonathan Cooper
Assistant engineer – Richard Smoker
Gramophone
'The lovers have light, well-matched voices, Mary Plazas avoiding the pert, hard character-note and vocal tone that can make Adina so unsympathetic, and Barry Banks giving particular pleasure with the freedom and clarity of his upper notes... the playing of the Philharmonia under David Parry calls for special remark: there are passages in the score that find a flavour, their own by rights but usually lost because not sought out.'
Opera Now
'You would have to look a long, long way to improve on the buffo skills of Andrew Shore as Dulcamara - his interpretation is quite simply a classic.'
