"It's not hard to see why bel canto is making such a comeback. The fantasy of the winsome diva, the suggestiveness of those sweet-scented melodies, the outlandishness of those extraordinary vocal runs. As the economic climate turns ever grimmer, the fragrant reveries of Bellini and Donizetti will become ever more attractive. Economic imperatives demand it. And bel canto should profit", so according to Igor Torony-Lalic in The Times. He goes on: "As if the unlikely return of the Royal Opera's aged Capuleti wasn't enough, Welsh National Opera is touring a sunny 1950s-inspired take on Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. Opera North produced its own version of Capuleti, normally a rarity, last year. And English Touring Opera is shortly to take one of the genre's undisputed masterpieces, Bellini's Norma, on the road, choosing to perform it in concert and dispense with the distraction of a plausible staging altogether".

"Why will the audiences be flocking in? Bel canto is all about candy for the ear and the eye. It is, in many ways, the escapist pursuit par excellence, relying on the oldest fantasy in the book: beauty. As the name implies, bel canto refers to those Italian operas written between 1805 and 1830 mainly by the likes of Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. They put a premium on a vocal style that favoured smoothness, lightness and agility above everything else. The focus is vocal beauty over dramatic profundity. Or, as the venerable Grove Dictionary of Music puts it, on 'vocalisation devoid of content' ”.