"Though the inevitable snags of live recording come out the more in the CD format—stagenoises, intrusive applause, odd balances—the gains far outweigh any irritations. With the chorus as protagonist in Act 1—Mussorgsky's Boris one of Puccini's influences there, I have long felt—the extra clarity and sense of presence on CD is particularly important. The chorus here sounds cleaner with no congestion, and this is as impressive a live recording of a heavily-textured opera as one could want. Anyone who prefers listening to opera live can safely choose this, for not only is it a fine line-up of soloists, Maazel is here at his warmest and most sensuously persuasive, not for a moment chilly in the way that he can be in the studio."

Gramophone [10/1985] Review of Complete Opera