Records International

'The detective work needed to understand the sources, characters and even the action is startling - and fully documented in the luxurious booklet.'

Gramophone

'A Donizetti rarity restored to circulation with all of Opera Rara's customary flair.'

Opera

'It is here given a satisfying performance, dominated and held together by Practicò in full flight as a mercenary con-man and by Spagnoli as his disreputable nephew (the 'Man in Black' of the title)... Jeremy Commons' excellent introductory essay in the accompanying booklet... is a model of what such things should be.'