. . . [Kaufmann] looks great and the voice is in superb form, able to spin out long, legato lines softly and to release cascades of power when needed . . . [Michele Pertusi] sings the role handsomely and is particularly impressive in the third-act duet with Kaufmann. Isabel Rey's Micaela is [well-sung] . . . The others -- gypsies, smugglers, soldiers -- are all top notch . . . Franz Welser-Möst¿s leadership is classy and never less than expert . . .

. . . this is as fine a "Carmen". . . Tenor Jonas Kaufmann is an immaculate Don José, living each turn of the drama vocally and with the desperation of his desire for Carmen etched into every note of their final murderous encounter. For once Escamillo is more than a hunk with the best-known tune in the opera as bass-baritone Michele Pertusi finds dignity and even a sense of humour in the matador . . . [mezzo-soprano Vesselina Kasarova's Carmen] makes this production unforgettable. Not just her smoky mezzo dipping down into the chest register in the "Habanera", but her gifts as an actress . . . All praise, too, for conductor Franz Welser-Möst and the Zurich Opera House Orchestra. Their playing is crisp and clean with tempos that resist any temptation to linger and so sentimentalise the score.

Michele Pertusi provides a vividly macho Escamillo and Isabel Rey is a mature though vocally presentable Micaela . . . Kaufmann rises conspicuously above the general surroundings, offering an uptight, even nerdy Don José which is vocally in a class of its own, with acting to match . . . [if Kaufmann] is what interests you about [this release] . . . you need not hesitate: he does not disappoint.

Jonas Kaufmann is the Jose of this generation, caressing the ear with his burnished bronze timbre, portraying every gradation of the misguided Brigadier's awakening to passion and descent to madness. His "Flower Song" is something for the ages. Vessellina Kasarova is a Carmen to be reckoned with: tough, unsubtle, physically riveting and vocally rock solid . . . Michele Pertusi sings "Votre toast" splendidly . . .

. . . [Don José is] a signature role for Kaufmann . . . Whenever Kaufmann gets a chance to break out vocally, his passion soars . . . Kasarova has a major voice . . . In the pit Welser-Möst leads a crisp, vigorous reading . . .

. . . [Kasarova]: a wealth of subtlety, of elegant phrasing, of technical finesse, of vivid word-painting delivered easily and naturally . . . She has excellent support . . . Michele Pertusi's Escamillo, a burly, good-natured, tacky jock, manages his hard-to-handle couplets more deftly than most "Carmen" toreros . . . there's a striking pair of lowlifes in Gabriel Bermúdez, a slick hunk of a Dancaire, and Javier Camarena, a jolly-faced Remendado . . . Franz Welser-Möst leads a brisk, lean, no-nonsense account of Michael Rot's critical edition of the Guiraud version of Bizet's score, with its occasionally notable, often delectable departures from the norm. And "the norm" is something to which this "Carmen" flatly refuses to adhere.

Die Inszenierung lebt von den Persönlichkeiten der Sänger . . . Jonas Kaufmann überzeugt uneingeschränkt als Don José, da er seine Stärken ausgewogen einbringen kann: Die "Blumenarie" verziert er mit innigen Pianoklängen, im tragischen Finale gibt er stimmlich Vollgas; sein Spiel ist wiederum engagiert und glaubwürdig . . . [Franz Welser Möst hatte] noch einmal für ein akkurates, tadelloses Spiel des Opernorchesters gesorgt, das hörbar auf die Belange der Sänger eingeht.

. . . Michele Pertusi se révèle un très bel Escamillo, à la diction excellente . . .