Rossini L'Italiana in Algeri
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Gioachino Rossini
Genre:
Opera
Label: Grand Opera
Magazine Review Date: 7/1989
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 130
Mastering:
ADD
Catalogue Number: 417 828-2DM2
Tracks:
| Composition | Artist Credit |
|---|---|
| (L')Italiana in Algeri, '(The) Italian Girl in Algiers' |
Gioachino Rossini, Composer
Fernando Corena, Mustafa, Baritone Florence Maggio Musicale Chorus Florence Maggio Musicale Orchestra Gioachino Rossini, Composer Giuliana Tavolaccini, Elvira, Soprano Luigi Alva, Lindoro, Tenor Miti Truccato Pace, Zulma, Soprano Paolo Montarsolo, Haly, Baritone Rolando Panerai, Taddeo, Baritone Silvio Varviso, Conductor Teresa Berganza, Isabella, Soprano |
Author: Richard Osborne
This recording of L'italiana in Algeri was made in the Teatro de la Pergola, Florence in the summer of 1963. The text is not so clean as on the recent Scimone (Erato/RCA) or Ferro (CBS) recordings which use Azio Corghi's 1981 Critical Edition, but nor is it as cut and muddied as on the 1954 Giulini recording (EMI—nla). This is largely thanks to the scholarly instincts and keen ear of the producer, Erik Smith, who knew a thing or two about Rossini performance long before the Rossini revival got into its stride in the 1970s.
Stylistically, the Mustafa, Fernando Corena is still to some extent an old-fashioned Rossini ham and Luigi Alva, oddly, is a disappointment here, dry-voiced and lacking in charm. But Rolando Panerai is his usual incomparably humorous self and the pedigree of Teresa Berganza's singing shows itself over the years even if, as so often, she is less bewitching on record than she was on stage where the entire artistic personality was on display. Varviso does not oversee the great ensembles as surely as Scimone or the inspired Gabriele Ferro on CBS, but his direction is sprightly, never dull. The playing of the Florence May Festival orchestra has its limitations, rather as a good local wine has alongside a cru classe, but it has the merit of being of the country, with a properly autochthonous feel to it that the LSO Rossini doesn't always have.
The recording is typical of the period, splendidly engineered on the large scale with a good deal of stereo production, characters perambulating fairly freely around one's room. Decca have reproduced it for CD with plenty of immediacy and brightness at the justifiable price of the retention of some very faint residual tape background. The packing is adequate, with text and translation provided. (The Scimone/Erato set omits the latter.) If cost is no object, then the full-price CBS set, also on two CDs, is the one to go for, but the mid-price Decca set comes up suprisingly well and will give a lot of immediate pleasure to opera fans prepared to forego the last degree of scholarly freshness and refinement.'
Stylistically, the Mustafa, Fernando Corena is still to some extent an old-fashioned Rossini ham and Luigi Alva, oddly, is a disappointment here, dry-voiced and lacking in charm. But Rolando Panerai is his usual incomparably humorous self and the pedigree of Teresa Berganza's singing shows itself over the years even if, as so often, she is less bewitching on record than she was on stage where the entire artistic personality was on display. Varviso does not oversee the great ensembles as surely as Scimone or the inspired Gabriele Ferro on CBS, but his direction is sprightly, never dull. The playing of the Florence May Festival orchestra has its limitations, rather as a good local wine has alongside a cru classe, but it has the merit of being of the country, with a properly autochthonous feel to it that the LSO Rossini doesn't always have.
The recording is typical of the period, splendidly engineered on the large scale with a good deal of stereo production, characters perambulating fairly freely around one's room. Decca have reproduced it for CD with plenty of immediacy and brightness at the justifiable price of the retention of some very faint residual tape background. The packing is adequate, with text and translation provided. (The Scimone/Erato set omits the latter.) If cost is no object, then the full-price CBS set, also on two CDs, is the one to go for, but the mid-price Decca set comes up suprisingly well and will give a lot of immediate pleasure to opera fans prepared to forego the last degree of scholarly freshness and refinement.'
Rossini L'Italiana in Algeri
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