This has always been a competitive set, and it remains so at mid price on CD. Solti may drive hard at times but there's no doubting the vivid, histrionic quality of his conducting. Alfredo Kraus, as RO commented on this set's last LP appearance, is a ''fine, fiery Duke'', in every way distinguished; he is certainly preferable to his older self elsewhere. Merrill isn't such a compelling artist but he is a strong honest interpreter of the role, who never does much wrong without quite impressing himself on the mind's eye and ear as does Gobbi for Serafin (EMI). Moffo is quite a touching Gilda, but not so individual, to say the least, as Callas (Serafin) or indeed Cotrubas (Giulini on DG), and vocally Sutherland's inferior (Bonynge on Decca), but in some ways her simple reading of the role is preferable to any of these. Support is variable.
This set is not only complete but also gives the score exactly as Verdi wrote it, which allows us to hear Verdi's cadenzas rather than nineteenth- century amendments. The recording is rather boomy and blatant. In absolute terms I couldn't recommend this above the full-price Serafin, Giulini or indeed Sinopoli (Philips) versions, but for a bargain it has much to offer.'