"...a complete and extremely refined artist, one of the most prolific and interesting composers of the new generation. The modern guitar repertoire is not complete without his works..." [Strumenti e Musica]

 "...one of the most active representatives of the generation of guitar players and musicologists..." [Il Fronimo]

As regards the guitar work Contrasti, which was signalled as  "The Month Score"
"...an excellent proof of his talent for Giovanni Podera - one of the most prolific guitar composers, active also as player, who confirms once again his high inspiration." [Seicorde]

"...I read his compositions with much interest and I perfectly agree with the judgements expressed in many reviews: he can always create very intense poetic moments introducing them in an absolutely modern unity of writing. In my judgment this is true of all his works and not only of "Contrasti", which received a very deserved prize. Besides, the idea of re-proposing particular thematic elements with the result of creating a wider general suggestiveness is excellent. And this is true also in the case of "Homage to Luigi Dallapiccola", with its free prelude seriality... I hope I will soon have the opportunity to listen to them all and for the time being I congratulate most keenly." [Vittorio Fellegara]

As concerns the Triptych by Dowland: "... an excellent work for its structure and a pleasant one for its tone-colour and rhythmic dimension ..." [Il Giornale di Bergamo]

As for the compositions included in the anthologies: 

"...In my view this is the highlight of the collection, and only mildly technically demanding..." [Classical Guitar]

"...Giovanni Podera’s "Prelude a la nuit" is a ..well - constructed piece…" [GFA Soundboard]

"...The shapely "Prelude a la nuit". Here, a free introduction gives way to greater rhythmic definition in the A BA structure which follows." [Classical Guitar]

"...Très joli "Elogio de la sombra" de Giovanni Podera." [Les Cahiers de la Guitare et de la Musique] 

 "... Giovanni Podera's piece is one of the most meaningful of the entire collection; built on a dodecaphonic series,... it presents lyric and slow moments contrasting with rythmical and involving ones..." [Seicorde]

 "...With his instrument he tries to find uncommon solutions of a longing, melancholy melodiousness through gentle, airy excursions on the six strings - which he seems to multiply; excellent his performance of Study no. 7 by H. Villa-Lobos..."  [M. Bertasa]

"Giovanni Podera...was able to show his skills as a  transcriber...a neat and sensitive touch, beautiful trills and remarkable tone-colour effects. In Turina's Sonata too, crossed by Mediterranean singsong lilts and fleeting apparitions of solar themes, he provided a good  example of agility and sharp sonority ...His performance expressed enthusiasm and an emotive but also aggressive expressiveness ...." [B. Zappa]

"The guitarist Podera was awarded the Simon Mayr prize for the best diploma from the Bergamo Conservatory.The prize awarding took place during a concert at the "Sala Piatti", where the director gave the young musician... the prestigious prize in the name of the town council. ... During the concert the guitarist widely showed both his virtuosity and his expressive skills." [A. Brena]

"...he performed pieces by S. De Murcia, J.Turina, ... with admirable virtuosity revealing remarkable skills and a strong expressive personality... A judgement of praise was very warmly expressed by the applauses of a large and attentive audience; everybody was involved in the atmosphere created by a kind of music which cheers the spirit and favors the flourishing of the love for life." [E. F.]

"The Donizetti Guitar Trio (Podera-Mancini-Marinoni) gave proof of an absolute formal perfection in the spelling of the phrase echoing from guitar to guitar on the wave of a stupendous legato. Their vivid sound, soft phrasing, clean touch and accurate expression were the ingredients which allowed the Trio to obtain a great success at the "Amici della
Musica"  in Ferrara ... A few  valid musicians who were at the concert expressed their enthusiastic judgement ...on the performance of the Trio from Bergamo..." [A. Tromboni]

"Convincing appreciation of the Donizetti Guitar Trio... delightful arabesques and magic suspensions deeply involved the audience in the concert... our protagonists performed a series of pieces ranging from the 16th to the 20th-century..."  [V. Bettinelli]

 "...the three excellent protagonists of the evening, Podera, Mancini and Marinoni, namely the members of the Donizetti Guitar Trio. A trio with remarkable artistic depth. The programme of the concert included scores by composers ranging from the 16th to the 20th-century, with two excellent works by composers from Bergamo... The three guitarists performed compositions by Andrienssen, Pacolini, Hindemith, Ambrosius... with the same virtuosity and tone-colour cohesion.
..." [N. Filippini Fantoni]

"Named after the famous musician, the Donizetti Trio is an interesting reality in the guitar panorama ...Podera, Mancini and Marinoni  won the praise of a large, attentive audience through a remarkable curriculum and a substantial concert experience. And the proof of this was their accurate performance (built on a well-established ensemble practice and on an unquestionable technical competence) and  their effective interpretative solutions, aiming at developing all the timbre and sound resources of the guitar and at finding out the ideational trace of each page with elegance and remarkable expressive strength. The Trio was able to show the variety of their performance ... fully confirming the positive judgements which were expressed about their numerous concert experiences." [G. Gonella]

"Podera, Mancini and Marinoni virtuosi of classical guitar,... clearly showed their professional competence and artistic feeling ... a combination of great skills which we had the opportunity to appreciate several times and which has now reached a great maturity ... the Trio proposed their large audience a particularly significant itinerary of sonatas. In fact they performed pieces ranging from the classical to the modern literature..." [A. Brena]

"...The protagonist was the well-known Donizetti trio from Bergamo.Their programme was of great interest. It touched the most significant moments which made up the history of this group ... the remarkable dynamics, the aplomb of pauses and the flexible phrasing made their performance particularly charming. These qualities are the result of their individual skills but also of mature interpretative personalities ..." [P. Franini]