# Barber or Tell ?



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Which is your pick as Rossini's masterpiece?


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## Xavier (Jun 7, 2012)

Itullian said:


> Which is your pick as Rossini's masterpiece?


"William Tell" in my book.


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## HumphreyAppleby (Apr 11, 2013)

As much as I adore _Barber_, _William Tell_ is just on a plane with only the very greatest operas, _Tristan_, _Fanciulla_, _Die Zauberfloete_...


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

HumphreyAppleby said:


> As much as I adore _Barber_, _William Tell_ is just on a plane with only the very greatest operas, _Tristan_, _Fanciulla_, _Die Zauberfloete_...


Fanciulla? Really?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Itullian said:


> Fanciulla? Really?


Oh yes, really.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Barber...just for the fun hurdy-gurdy woodwind. Besides, I have to sit in front of the brass section. William Tell means putting the shield up and the earplugs in :lol:


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

It's pretty clear to me that both are masterpieces of their respective genres -- "comic" and "serious."


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Between these two I take Barbiere, but my favorite Rossini are other operas.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

They are different enough that I can safely say "both".

Now between Barbiere and Cenerentola...


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Of course, Rossini recycled his music quite a lot. Does it matter which one we pick? :lol:


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Not being into comic opera, I'll take William Tell. Another advantage is that it's longer.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

wow, very interesting results here.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

*Tell* for me but not sure I can choose between _Guillaume_ and _Guglielmo_.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

sospiro said:


> *Tell* for me but not sure I can choose between _Guillaume_ and _Guglielmo_.


No need. We have great versions of both.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Itullian said:


> No need. We have great versions of both.


Yep! I have these & love them both equally.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

Couac Addict said:


> Of course, Rossini recycled his music quite a lot. Does it matter which one we pick? :lol:


word! I usually take _Tancredi_ and _La pietra del paragone_ since it's the same thing, once serious, the other time comic. Gotta love Rossini for that.


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## Signor Crescendo (May 8, 2014)

I voted for _Guillaume Tell_ - which is a masterpiece. Who was it who said Act 2 was written by God?

The complete (5 and a half hours!) work is here: 



.

But Rossini wrote a lot of masterpieces! Even among the serious (or semi-serious) operas, _Tell_'s supremacy is challenged by _Semiramide_, which is a character-driven work, whereas _Tell_ is social and communal. And then there are the Naples operas - less ambitious than _Tell_, but nevertheless excellent. But, yes, I think _Tell_ is the work.

I like _Barbiere_, and it's the most popular Rossini opera. True, it has "A un dottor" and the Act I finale (which were how I first fell in love with Rossini). But I don't think it's even the best of his _comic_ operas. For one thing, it takes a while to get going (when it goes into Dr. Bartolo's house) - although it doesn't stop once it does. _L'italiana in Algeri_ is funnier, and has the gleeful nonsense of the Act I finale and the Pappatacì scene, and _La Cenerentola_ has "Questo è un nodo". _Matilde di Shabran_ and _Il viaggio a Reims_, despite undramatic libretti, are musically better (the quintet and finale in the first act, and the sextet in the second; the Gran Pezzo Concertato).


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## Revenant (Aug 27, 2013)

I think it was Donizetti, iirc. Something like [paraphrased of course] "the other acts were written by Rossini, but the second act was written by God."


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I simply don't get l'Italiana. It doesn't even make me smile. I keep watching new versions thinking it must be something to do with the staging, but I think it will always be lost to me.

Barbiere, on the other hand, is very entertaining. It was the first opera I ever saw, in English, at ENO, and I went 4 times and just kept laughing every time.


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## Signor Crescendo (May 8, 2014)

mamascarlatti said:


> I simply don't get l'Italiana. It doesn't even make me smile. I keep watching new versions thinking it must be something to do with the staging, but I think it will always be lost to me.


Have you seen this?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Signor Crescendo said:


> Have you seen this?


Well I must admit I cracked a smile.


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## Signor Crescendo (May 8, 2014)

mamascarlatti said:


> Well I must admit I cracked a smile.


There's hope for you yet!


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

mamascarlatti said:


> I simply don't get l'Italiana. It doesn't even make me smile. I keep watching new versions thinking it must be something to do with the staging, but I think it will always be lost to me.
> 
> Barbiere, on the other hand, is very entertaining. It was the first opera I ever saw, in English, at ENO, and I went 4 times and just kept laughing every time.


I seem to remember I and quite a few others had a few chuckles when Baltsa sang Isabella at Covent Garden (in the 80s I think). I also saw the revival with Horne, but she was at the end of her career and played it like a pantomime Dame. Not funny at all.


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## Bardamu (Dec 12, 2011)

mamascarlatti said:


> I simply don't get l'Italiana. It doesn't even make me smile. I keep watching new versions thinking it must be something to do with the staging, but I think it will always be lost to me.
> 
> Barbiere, on the other hand, is very entertaining. It was the first opera I ever saw, in English, at ENO, and I went 4 times and just kept laughing every time.


I've attended to my first L'italiana a few weeks ago and I must say I was disappointed, even through the performance I couldn't not thinking how it wasn't as good as La cenerentola and Il barbiere.
It was really an odd revelation since I've already listened to it a few times before.


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

GregMitchell said:


> I also saw the revival with Horne, but she was at the end of her career and played it like a pantomime Dame. Not funny at all.


ha, I love Horne's Isabella! I'm in the Italiana > Barbiere camp.


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