Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia / Prey · Berganza · Alva · Dara · Montarsolo · LSO · Abaddo

Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia / Prey · Berganza · Alva · Dara · Montarsolo · LSO · Abaddo

Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia / Prey · Berganza · Alva · Dara · Montarsolo · LSO · Abaddo
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CD Details

Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1998-05-12
Music Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Sinfonia
  2. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Piano, pianissimo (Conte)
  3. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Ecco, ridento in cielo...Ehi, Fiorello? (Conte)
  4. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Largo al factotum
  5. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Se il mio nome (Conte) (Rosina)
  6. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: All'idea di quel metallo (Conte)
  7. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Una voce poco fa (Rosina)
  8. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: La callunnia è un venticello (Basilio)
  9. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Dunque io son (Rosina)
  10. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: A un dottor de la mia sorte (Bartolo)
Music CD 2
  1. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Finora in questa camera...Ehi, di casa! (Conte) (Bartolo) (Rosina) (Basilio)
  2. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Alto là! (Bartolo) (Conte) (Rosina) (Basilio)
  3. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Ma, signor... (Bartolo) (Basilio) (Rosina) (Conte)
  4. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Ma vedil il mio destino...Pace e gioia (Conte) (Bartolo)
  5. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Contro un cor (Rosina) (Conte) (Bartolo)
  6. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Quando mi sei vicina (Bartolo)
  7. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Don Basilio! (Rosina) (Conte) (Bartolo) (Basilio)
  8. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Il vecchiotto cerca moglie
  9. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Gewittermusik
  10. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Ah! qual colpo inaspettato (Rosina) (Conte)
  11. Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Di sì felice innesto (Rosina)

Music reviews of Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia / Prey · Berganza · Alva · Dara · Montarsolo · LSO · Abaddo

Music Review: A Fantastic Performance Bound to Leave You Smiling
Rating: 5 Stars

Rossini's "Barber" was the first complete opera that I ever heard, and still remains one of my favorites. The humor of the libretto, the sheer beauty of the music, the memories of Bugs Bunny and his "Figaro Fertilizer," this opera has it all.

This rather simple opera bouffa is in fact so perfect in every way, not even the unofficial sequel, Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro," can match the sheer brilliance of this. (To be fair, Mozart's opera and its follow ups "Don Giovanni' and "Così fan tutte" are still the most perfectly crafted operas of all time). Unlike most of Rossini's other operas, this one had remained unequaled in its popularity, so much so that even Beethoven said that this work will never be forgotten and hailed as Rossini's piece de resistance no matter what else he writes. I am sure Beethoven would have still held by this even if he heard "Guillaume Tell."

This particular recording, often hailed as the best sound recording of the work, has much to offer.

First up is Teresa Berganza's unsurpassable Rosina. Although one would not expect a mezzo to take a youthful roles ("Witches, Britches, and B....s" after all) everything that emits from her mouth comes out perfectly and beautifully. She truly sounds like a sixteen-year-old blossoming into a young beauty. The only other Rosina I am really familiar with at this point, Kathleen Battle, cannot come close to reaching this perfection. Although I have not heard any else by Berganza at this point, she is on her way to being my second favorite mezzo at this point (behind Christa Ludwig, but that is another matter entirely!).

Next comes Hermann Prey's Figaro. Although I think he does a better job as Mozart's Figaro, he is terrific here as well. His voice may not be as liquid or beautiful as Giuseppe Taddei's, in fact the end of his "Largo al factotum" is rather unexciting (he does not hold the "de laaaaaa ciiiiii but unlike his contemporary, he does not bark or sound decidedly German, and actually has a fantastic voice in his own right. His acting is also fantastic! He may not be "funny" to some people (note, I have not seen his video performance), but I feel he is funny, even if he is a bit elegant in his portrayal compared to others.

Luigi Alva is wonderful as well. His voice has definitely aged since 1959 (his Ottavio for Giulini), but he still has it all there. He has the right voice for the role that Rossini specified: a high lyric tenor who can sing coloratura passages with ease. His appearances as Alfonso and the drunken soldier are hilarious, even if he is not as caricatured as Frank Lopardo.

Enzo Dara's Bartolo is exquisite as well. He is wonderfully foolish and you can just feel that rage and humiliation building up in him as the opera progresses.

Paolo Montarsolo is enjoyable as Bartolo, even if he does not reach the vocal and comic heights of the great Ruggero Raimondi, and Stefania Malagú handles her Act II aria with great dexterity.

Musically, Abbado is fantastic. He is focused 100% and enhances the humor and drama (used VERY lightly) of the opera. His 1992 account has better music all around and is more upbeat and elegant, but this reading is all comedy and practically funny in its own way.

One thing I do not like about this recording, however, are the removal of Fiorello's recitative in Act I, and the deletion of Bartolo's terrified response to the discovery of the identity of the Count and the Count's seven and a half minute solo in Act II. The prior is not extremely necessary, but the latter is utterly fantastic and only removed mostly because of the difficulty of having a large solo RIGHT before the finale. Thankfully there is a wonderful account of this in Abbado's 1992 recording.

Overall, this recording is technically perfect. An enjoyable cast, a conductor who knows what to do, and although not previously mentioned, a sound quality to rival even digital recordings. Kudos to every DG engineer who worked on this, and all other "Original Series" releases in general. Any one who enjoys opera MUST have this recording, and no matter what kind of opera you enjoy (I personally am a dogmatic Wagnerian) or just someone who want to have a happy two hours of pure musical joy.
More Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia / Prey · Berganza · Alva · Dara · Montarsolo · LSO · Abaddo free music reviews:
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