Il Re Pastore (1996)

"Mozart wrote "Il re pastore" only a few months after "La finta giardiniera" in 1775 and, following on from his three previous opere serie, "Mitridate", "Ascanio in Alba" and "Lucio Silla", it was his last completed early opera before his succession of masterpieces beginning with "Idomeneo". Harnoncourt is a driven man in this live recording. Concentus Musicus and all the singers deliver strong and musically rewarding performances but there is always an awareness that Harnoncourt is trying to provide this work with a dramatic impetus which perhaps it cannot quite sustain. 4/5" (classical-music.com)