Audiences and critics have hailed Le Cid at the Dorset Opera Festival starring Leonardo Capalbo in the tour-de-force title role.

"What makes the evening worthwhile, however, is the terrific bravado of the young American tenor Leonardo Capalbo in the title-role...[He] sings with unstinting heroic grandeur and does full justice to the lovely aria “O souverain, o juge”: his clean, bright, firm timbre is very well suited to this school of music, and he should sing more of it."

- Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph, July 2018

"Pride of place amongst a doughty cast must go to Italian-American tenor Leonardo Capalbo, who not only keeps going throughout the arduous title role of Rodrigue (alias Le Cid), but does so with the kind of ringing tone and old-fashioned heroic stance this piece of dramatic hokum needs to succeed."

- George Hall, The Stage, July 2018

"Le Cid, the name by which the Moors reportedly called Rodrigue Díaz de Vivar, was sung by Leonardo Capalbo who performed the role with complete assurance. Capalbo has a bold, ringing tenor and bristles with energy; his Rodrigue is an earnest, honourable man and Capalbo brought to life the confusion and distress that his need to defend his father’s honour at the expense of his own happiness brought him. Clear at the top of the voice and text passionately enunciated, Capalbo brought the spark to the production that gave it its edge."

- Dominic Lowe, Backtrack, July 2018