[Marchesi’s] vocal powers were very great, his voice of extensive compass, but a little inclined to be thick. His execution was very considerable, and he was rather too fond of displaying it; nor was his cantabile singing equal to his bravura. In recitative and scenes of energy and passion, he was incom­parable, and had he been less lavish of orna­ments, which were not always appropriate, and possessed a more pure and simple taste, his performance would have been faultless: it was always striking, animated, and effective. He chose for his début Sarti’s beautiful opera of Giulio Sabino, in which all the songs of the principal character, and they are many and various, are of the very finest description. But I was a little disappointed at Marchesi’s execution of them, for they were all familiar to me, as I had repeatedly heard Pacchierotti sing them in private, and I missed his tender expression, particularly in the last pathetic scene, and lamented that their simplicity should be injured, as it was, by an over-flowery style. But his flowery style was absolute simplicity to what we have] heard in latter days. […] The first woman, Giuliani, was a very inferior performer, and had an uncertain, thin voice, not always perfectly in tune; yet she was not without merit, had a good figure for the stage, and acted well. The new tenor, Forlivesi, was very indifferent, not near so good as his predecessor.