Decca’s new recording of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, featuring Thomas Hampson in the title role, has been named one of the “Editor’s Choice” recordings in Gramophone’s January 2014 issue.  The magazine praises the recording, captured live at Vienna’s famed Konzerthaus, for “performances that don’t just measure up to the recorded history but shine different kinds of light on the opera,” noting, “[Hampson] can emit a true Doge roar…his Lieder-like sense of detail reveals the role in three dimensions with great concision and no excessive fussing with the vocal line.”  The Guardian observes, “[Hampson] brings his sharp intellectual focus to bear on the contrast between the private man and the public figure,” while BBC Music calls Hampson “a searching interpreter, aware of the meaning and possible ambiguities of every phrase he sings.”