MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: The Barber of Seville [Il Barbiere di Siviglia] (Complete Opera recorded in 1983)

MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: The Barber of Seville [Il Barbiere di Siviglia] (Complete Opera recorded in 1983) cover $25.00 Low Stock add to cart

GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: The Barber of Seville [Il Barbiere di Siviglia] (Complete Opera recorded in 1983)
Francisco Araiza, Agnes Baltsa, Thomas Allen, Robert Lloyd / Academy St Martins / Neville Marriner

[ Decca Opera! / 2 CD ]

Release Date: Thursday 10 March 2011

Should this item be out of stock at the time of your order, we would expect to be able to supply it to you within 2 - 4 weeks.

Sir Neville Marriner makes one of his rare appearances as an opera conductor and the combination of a superb cast and stylish orchestral playing combine to make a magnificent recording of Rossini's comic masterpiece.

Count Almaviva, disguised as a poor music student, Lindoro, declares his love for Rosina. She is desired by her elderly guardian Bartolo. With the help of Figaro, Rosina and Lindoro elope, the Count reveals his true identity, and Bartolo acknowledges defeat.

• Rossini wrote nearly forty operas and while some of them are scarcely heard today, Il barbiere di Siviglia has never left the repertory since it was first performed at the Teatro Argentina in Rome in 1816

• this is one of the greatest comic operas, full of melodic invention and rhythmic vitality from the opening bars of the popular Overture

• ten minutes into the opera and we have one of the most popular baritone arias and a real show-stopper when Figaro sings his "Largo al factotum", sung here by the greatest interpreter of the role in recent years, Thomas Allen

• scene two opens with another favourite aria, Rosina's "Una voce poco fa" and Greek-born Agnes Baltsa rises magnificently to the coloratura challenges of the aria

• Rossini is famous for his lively and boisterous finales and that which comes at the end of Act Two is no exception; "Mi par d'essere con la testa" tears along at breakneck speed and makes great use of that Rossini speciality, the crescendo

• Sir Neville Marriner makes one of his rare appearances as an opera conductor and the combination of a superb cast and stylish orchestral playing combine to make a magnificent recording of Rossini's comic masterpiece.

One of the audio discs has been enhanced with CD-ROM capability to carry the full libretto including translations. These CDs function as any normal audio CD when played on your CD player or computer but can also be used on your personal computer (or Macintosh) to view the complete libretto and translations.

Il Conte d'Almaviva: Francisco Araiza
Bartolo: Domenico Trimarchi
Rosina: Agnes Baltsa
Figaro: Thomas Allen
Basilio: Robert Lloyd
Fiorello: Matthew Best
Berta: Sally Burgess
Un ufficiale: John Noble