Genre:
Opera
Release Date:
Jul 2016
Subtitles:
EN/FR/DE (all operas) + IT for (LA SCALA DI SETA) + KO (L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI) + JP&KO (CIRO IN BABILONIA/IL SIGNOR BRUSCHINO)
Sound Format:
Dolby Digital/DTS Surround (MOSÈ IN EGITTO/ CIRO IN BABILONIA / L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI) LPCM 2.0/DTS Surround (LA SCALA DI SETA/ IL SIGNOR BRUSCHINO) - LPCM 2.0/DTS Master Audio (all). 5 x DVD
Catalog Number:
OA1180BD
Rossini: Festival Collection (Rossini Opera Festival)
Alex Esposito (Mustafà (Italiana); Faraone (Mosè)); Carlo Lepore (Gaudenzio (Bruschino)); Ewa Podleś (Ciro (Ciro)); Michael Spyres (Baldassare (Ciro)); Jessica Pratt (Amira (Ciro)); Riccardo Zanellato (Moses (Mosè)); Maria Aleida (Sofia (Bruschino)); Mariangela Sicilia (Elvira (L'italiana));
Each year the Rossini Opera Festival celebrates the musical genius of Pesaro’s beloved native son, hosting a summer of singing in the composer’s home town on the Adriatic coast. The five stunning productions in this set span Festival editions from 2009 to 2013 and showcase the full extent of Rossini’s dramatic range. Graham Vick’s production of Mosè in Egitto (2011) is a fresh take on the Biblical tale of oppression, inspiration and freedom, with experienced Rossinian Roberto Abbado in the pit and eloquent singing from Sonia Ganassi and Alex Esposito, while the sparkling La scala di seta (2009) weaves a burlesque tale of gentlemen using a silken ladder to access the bedchamber of a certain Giulia, sung with ‘wonderful suppleness’ (Opernwelt) by Olga Peretyatko. Rossini turns again to the Old Testament for inspiration, writing what would be his longest-ever contralto part for the title role of Ciro in Babilonia (2012), ideally suited and skilfully taken by great Rossini singer Ewa Podleś. History then gives way to histrionics and the composer’s light-hearted one actoperatic farce Il signor Bruschino (2012), transported in a ‘clever production’ (New York Times) by innovative theatrecompany Teatro Sotterraneo to a modern-day theme park, where a case of mistaken identities is brought to riotous pitchby Rossini’s forward-thinking comedic effects. Musical refinement and madcap invention combine in L’Italiana in Algeri (2013), the sparkling buffa that was an early triumph for Rossini and drove Richard Strauss ‘mad with enthusiasm’. Davide Livermore’s exuberant, Swinging 60s-based production features agile-voiced Anna Goryachova (‘an ideal performer, bothas a singer and actor’ – Online Musik Magazin) and Alex Esposito (‘a robust and authoritative voice of supreme quality’ –Operaclick) in the story of one girl’s fearless determination to rescue her captive lover from the evil clutches of the Bey of Algiers.
MOSÈ IN EGITTO
Mose - Riccardo Zanellato
Faraone - Alex Esposito
Osiride - Dmitry Korchak
Conductor - Roberto Abbado
Director - Graham Vick
LA SCALA DI SETA
Dormont - Daniele Zanfardino
Giulia - Olga Peretyatko
Lucilla - Anna Malavasi
Conductor - Claudio Scimone
Director - Damiano Michieletto
Orchestra and Chorus of The Teatro Comunale Di Bologna
CIRO IN BABILONIA
Ciro - Ewa Podleś
Amira - Jessica Pratt
Baldassare - Michael Spyres
Conductor - Will Crutchfield
Director - Davide Livermore
IL SIGNOR BRUSCHINO
Bruschino senior - Roberto De Candia
Gaudenzio - Carlo Lepore
Sofia - Maria Aleida
Conductor - Daniele Rustioni
Director - Teatro Sotterraneo
L'ITALIANA IN ALGERI
Isabella - Anna Goryachova
Mustafa - Alex Esposito
Lindoro - Yijie Shi
Taddeo - Mario Cassi
Conductor - Jose Ramon Encinar
Director - Davide Livermore
Reviews
"The cast is uniformly good. With her film-star looks and shiny top register, Olga Peretyatko has a lot of fun as Giulia, Carlo Lepore shows off as the vacuous Blansac, Jose Manuel Zapata makes an engaging Dorvil, and Paolo Bordogna proves an expert clown in the buffo role of Germano." (BBC Music Magazine - Scala ★★★★)
"ROF had found another outstanding singer in Alex Esposito as Pharaoh. His first act aria - Cade dal ciglio il velo - brought a thunderous, prolonged and deserved ovation. Rossini expression at its best." (The Guardian - Mosè)
"In the title role, the booming contralto Ewa Podles gives the kind of old-style, intensely felt performance that is her trademark. As Amira, the soprano Jessica Pratt established herself in two daunting arias as a brilliant new presence on the bel canto scene." (The New York Times - Ciro)
" ... wonderful singing actors who brought Rossini’s farce alive in high art that was well beyond mere opera. Roberto de Candia and Carlo Lepore supplied experience and savoir faire as Bruschino and Gaudenzio, Andrea Vicenzo Bonsignore as the innkeeper Filiberto, David Alegret as Florville the young lover, and Maria Aleida with her amazingly high notes as Sofia the ingenue supplied the promise. Young Italian conductor Daniele Rustioni was a lively participant in the proceedings as were members of the Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini." (Opera Today - Bruschino)
"The singers are in good form. Mezzo-soprano Anna Goryachova as Isabella is perfect, vocally rich and in her portrayal throughout on a high standard. Also Alex Esposito is vocally on the highest level, despite the stage director's strenuous, almost athletic demands. Rossini was a man of the theatre and knew not only how to compose but also to deliver all the little details which are needed for a comedy: Humour in the story but also in the music. Conclusion: This bold 'L'italiana in Algeri' is exhilarating though perhaps nothing for purists. Sound and visuals are excellent." (Pizzicato - Italiana ★★★★★)