By Francis Carlin [Financial Times, 24 April 2006]

Warrior queen Semiramide murdered her husband years ago but his ghost has come back to haunt her and her accomplice, Assur. This new production is haunted too, by the ghosts of superlative performers who gave one of Rossini’s most exacting scores the luxury treatment it requires. That was 25 years ago in this same theatre and the singers were Montserrat Caballe, Marilyn Horne and Samuel Ramey.