Recommended Rossini/Il barbiere di Siviglia?
Donald Patterson
Chas Roades wrote:
>
> I'm looking for recommendations on which recording of Rossini's Barber
> of Seville to purchase. The Naxos recording of Humberg's Barber looks
> tempting (if only for the price), but I'm hesitant to go with Naxos if
> there's a superior recording to be had at mid or full price.
>
> Any suggestions? Also, recommendations for other Rossini
> pieces/recordings for a newcomer to his work?
>
> Thanks!
Believe it or not, even with all of the truly great recordings
of this warhorse, The Naxos set is at the top of many a listener's
list. It has gotten good press in this NG and in almost every
review magazine I have seen. Unfortunately, I have not heard
it. CDs are a nonessential these days. (Can't even buy a Naxos
set! The wife had three babies and can't work, so had to cut out
all non-essentials)
The one I cherish most is the old Gui/Bruscantini/Alva/de los
Angeles set on mid-price EMI. I think Bruscantini is the best
Figaro on disc...very characterful without become a charicature.
Alva is well behaved as the Count. In many of his other recordings
of this role, he could get pretty wirey. De los Angeles is an
elegant Rosina, rather than the sassy little priss we often get
these days. Everything is paced near to perfection by Vittorio
Gui. The overture beats any other performance I have ever heard.
Try it, you'll like it.
--
Don Patterson <don...@erols.com>
"The President's Own"
United States Marine Band
Concerned about the state of the Mac?
Visit: http://www.MacMarines.com
The views expressed are my own and in no way reflect
those of the U.S. Marine Band or the Marine Corps.
Chas Roades
Simon Roberts
Chas Roades (roa...@earthlink.net) wrote:
: I'm looking for recommendations on which recording of Rossini's Barber
: Thanks!
You shouldn't be too skeptical about the Naxos; it contains one of the
finest examples of tenor Rossini singing on records (Ramon Vargas), and
the other two principals are quite good; and it's fairly well conducted
and recorded. The recentish Teldec has a tenor almost in that class
(Giminez), a superbly sung, if a trifle hard in tone, Rosina from
Larmore, and a well acted Figaro from Hagegard (though he, like most
baritones, stumbles in the florid passages; Thomas Allen is the best
singer from that point of view of that role on records, at least in
stereo; he's on Marriner's along with Baltsa and Araiza); the conducting
is good too. I prefer these to the classic recordings of de Los Angeles
(with Alva and Bruscantini) and Callas (with Alva and Gobbi) though
understand why they are so popular. If you want a perky chirpy high
soprano Rosina for some reason, the Leinsdorf set is well sung (Peters
does the chirping), especially Valletti's Count; forget Sills, in part
because of Gedda's hideously sung Count (the CD version unfortunately
omits the final long aria for the Count, a party piece which is the only
reason why I bought the CD....) If you can forget the rest of the
singing, the irresistable Teresa Berganza is on two recordings, one on
London, the other on DG; similarly, Bartoli's is not only lumberingly
conducted, but features a third rate Count and a fourth rate Figaro; all
three are thus extremely frustrating.
So, all in all, why not start with the Naxos or Teldec and see what you
think?
Simon
Jan Arell
In article <33E62C...@earthlink.net>, roa...@earthlink.net says...
>
>I'm looking for recommendations on which recording of Rossini's Barber
>of Seville to purchase. The Naxos recording of Humberg's Barber looks
>tempting (if only for the price), but I'm hesitant to go with Naxos if
>there's a superior recording to be had at mid or full price.
>
>Any suggestions? Also, recommendations for other Rossini
>pieces/recordings for a newcomer to his work?
>
>Thanks!
The Naxos is definitely the most -fun- recording of Barber that I have
heard. Even the doors slam in different ways, depending on who is
shutting them. Produced "by the Paganini of doorhangers", according to
one reviewer.
Also it is well sung and played and definitely worth a lot more than its
super-budget-price.
One disadvantage: Libretto in Italian only, without translatation. The
recording is complete BTW without any cuts in recitatives.
I heartily recommend it. (If you must have a recording with Big Names, I
suggest the Marriner on Philips.)
Jan Arell, Gothenburg, Sweden
Juan Manuel Triana
For me the Naxos' Humburg reading is the best of recent versions. Ramon
Vargas is a fine Almaviva, Sonia Ganassi
a first rate coloratura mezzo and finally Roberto Servile... his Figaro
is excellent. Another thing, this is one of the few
recordings where the singers match the age of their characters. The
Hungarian musicians play with verve and the conductor, Mr. Will Humburg,
mantains the adequate mood, with theatrically recitativi and tempi.
--
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Nie-wieder-Erwachens
wahnlos
hold bewußter Wunsch
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T. J. Wood
Joseph Rizzo wrote:
>
>
> The Naxos set is a great set. The only draw back is lack of a
> translation. If this bothers you, you might want to either buy a
> libretto or purchase another set.
The Naxos really is good -- but there is an additional drawback. It's on
three disks, and therefore costs about the same as some of the two-disk
mid-price releases like the Callas recording.
Get it anyway. But I had lots of trouble finding it.
--
------------------------------------------------------
Thomas Wood
University of Illinois at Springfield
wo...@uis.edu
------------------------------------------------------
Opus47
Thanks Don,
I was thinking of getting the Gui. You pretty much confirm it.
Fred