Rossini: La Scala di Seta [The Silken Ladder] (complete opera)

Gioachino Rossini was only 20 when he was commissioned to compose La scala di seta. It is one of four farsa comica operas which fed popular demand for this genre in Venice in the early 19th century and was wildly successful with its original audiences. Assisted by the silken ladder of the title, the diverting romantic intrigues of the narrative revolve around secretive assignations and obtuse misunderstandings, by no means helped by the presence of the slow-witted manservant Germano, in one of Rossini's most successful comedies.

'La scala di seta' is the best-known of Rossini's five one-act comic operas that he wrote for the Teatro de San Moisè in Venice. We worked with an exceptional cast of specialists for this, my fifth recording of Rossini repertoire for Naxos. It's the composer's most important farsa, in which the symbiosis between music, libretto and comedy reaches the heights of expression. It was an experiment which Rossini developed later in his full-length operas. Giulia's highly elaborate aria, for example, is a harbinger of scenes for soprano in his serious operas. - José Miguel Pérez-Sierra