This album is the debut release from the Irish Baroque Orchestra. The tracks chosen take the listener on a journey through the German courts of the 18th century. Concertos by Fasch, Telemann, Heinichen, Vivaldi, and Graupner have been chosen for this programme. “…what really makes the IBO so worth hearing is the unified artistry and joyous, focused energy of its music-making under Huggett.” (The Sunday Times)

[I]t is good to be reminded how fine this RCA set is of La bohème... I had forgotten just how persuasive Solti's conducting is here, not just how forceful. He may start with all the speed and brilliance of Toscanini—though allowing Domingo and Milnes plenty of time to breathe and to enunciate words—but the warm Italianate expressiveness is then what strikes home, in Act I reaching a culmination in superb accounts of the two arias plus the duet from Domingo and Caballé, both in expansive, radiant voice. Domingo's heroic forthright view of "Che gelida manina" contrasts perfectly with the delicate, finely detailed, tenderly expressive singing of Caballé in "Si, mi chiamano Mimi", leading to enchanting exchanges in the final duetting of "0 soave fanciulla"... It will take a very special version to oust this from first place on the CD list.

-- Edward Greenfield, Gramophone [9/1986]

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Montserrat Caballé sings Mimì exquisitely, and Domingo’s gloriously sung Rodolfo is most appealing. Milnes is a likeable Marcello – he makes more of the role than many baritones do – and Judith Blegen a colourful Musetta.

-- Charles Osborne, BBC Music Magazine