"Pertinently 1729 was the year that famous castrato Farinelli made his Venetian debut and other star performers who were attracted to that season's festival ... From start to finish Hallenberg gives an inspiring performance overflowing with invigorating energy and especially impressive is her fluidity and the array of tone colours produced ... With this stunning studio album of showstopping late-baroque arias Carnevale 1729 Ann Hallenberg confidently maintains her elevated level of performance"

"The Venetian carnival season was an orgy in several ways, with theatres competing frantically to present famous singers in new operas, and endless rivalries and scandals ... Hallenberg dazzles with sensational virtuosity and warm tone that is straight as a die, and Il Pomo d'Oro supports brilliantly"

Vurdering: 5/5

"Ugens album: På Ugens Album i P2 kan du høre den svenske mezzosopran Ann Hallenberg synge arier fra de operaer, som blev opført ved karnevalet i Venedig 1729 ... Ann Hallenberg mestrer musikken suverænt, og giver et flot tværsnit af den overdådighed som karnevalet 1729 havde at byde på"

"Editor's choice: Arias from each role might as well have been tailor-made for Hallenberg's pinpoint virtuosity and lyricism, communicative use of language, idiomatic embellishment, intelligently sculpted phrasing (limpid, gentle or turbulent as the music demands) and astute theatrical characterisation"

"BBC music choice - Recording of the month: Venice, Carnival season 1729: the greatest operatic voices of the age assemble ... Composers must whip together glittering scores. Such is the context of the brilliant programme put together by mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg ... In bravura arias, virtuosity must serve expression, and in this art Hallenberg has no equal ... The band is just as free, and just as convincing ... This performance brings us music never heard before, executed with a rare intensity"