From start to finish he energises the excellent cast and well-rehearsed orchestra to extract the best from an admittedly uneven piece, giving full measure to even the weakest parts.
The sound is amazingly full-bodied... this is an issue to warm the hearts of all keen Verdians.'
The Guardian

(this recording) 'allows us to hear subtleties of word, setting and characterization the more familiar version lacks... Neilson Taylor is genuinely tragic as Montfort, the embattled French governor of Sicily, whose son Henri (Jean Bonhomme, very stylish) is backing the opposition... A must for Verdians...'
Sicilienne
The Cast

GUY DI MONTFORT
- Neilson Taylor
LE SIRE DE BETHUNE
- Stafford Dean
LE COMTE DE VAUDEMONT
- Neil Howlett
HENRI - Jean Bonhomme
JEAN PROCIDA
- Ayhan Baran
LE DUCHESSE HÉLÈNE
- Jacqueline Brumaire
NINETTA - Pamela Bowden
DANIELI
- Bernard Dickerson
THIBAULT - Gerald English
ROBERT - Michael Rippon
MAINFROID - Nigel Rogers

BBC Concert Orchestra
CONDUCTOR BALLET MUSIC - Ashley Lawrence
CONDUCTOR - Mario Rossi
The Gramophone

'We are again in debt to Opera Rara and Sir Peter Moores for extending their invaluable series of first versions of Verdi operas. Vêpres is usually performed, if it is given at all, in Italian translation, but like Don Carlos it was composed to a French text and sounds much better in that form, especially when performed with the conviction shown by these forces under Mario Rossi (the conductor had been responsible for reviving many of the then rarely heard scores on Italian radio during the 1951 Verdi centenary year).
International Record Review
'This latest in the series of off-the-air Verdi performances... is quite an event... Les Vêpres Siciliennes is a seminal work, coming as it does between the great trio of popular successes of the early 1850s (Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata), and anticipating the trio of more experimental and forward-looking works that followed (Simon Boccanegra, Un ballo in maschera and La forza del destino). The crucial role of Montfort... is sung here by Neilson Taylor... he gives a really sensitive and interesting study of a man desperate for his son’s recognition and affection. Verdi here anticipates the mood of the great duets in Don Carlos for two male voices... The obligatory ballet that Paris Opéra demanded inspired Verdi to what must be his finest dance sequence.'