# The Rossini Tread



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I've recently got into this guy's operas. Anyone got anything to say about himself, his operas and recordings / DVDs we should look out for?


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

His music can give a false impression of being more facile than it is. Most underrated Rossini opera?

Matilde di Shabran:

















N.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I'm a big fan of Rossini.

Of course, for a man writing so many operas, I can't say all of them are favorites of mine. And I have a preference for his dramatic pieces, rather than his buffa works.

Perhaps, forced to choose one, I would go for _Tancredi_. This is an opera written by a very young man (Rossini was only 21 years old), and he completed his work in record time, as usual, but the final result have a kind of purity, of simplicity that simply gets me every time.

There are two endings written by Rossini. The first one, a happy one, called the "Venice ending", and a tragic one, much more in line with Voltaire and with Rossini's intentions, called the "Ferrara ending". The tragic is the right choice, in my view.

This is a nice performance from Barcelona's Liceu, with Horne, Palacios and Lloris, that can be a good introduction. There are some great performers of the role of Tancredi, including Horne herself, Valentini Terrani or Podles, and eventually, if _Tancredi_ performs its magic in the listener, one would like to hear all of them, as well as a version by such an expert on Rossini like Alberto Zedda, but as a first contact, I think it's fine:


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

L'Italiana is one of my favorite operas.
To me Barbiere, L'Italiana, Cenerentola are his best comedic works.

W.Tell is a masterpiece.

The rest of his operas are ok, but not in that class.

Wish he didn't retire so early, but maybe that's all he had to say.


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## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

When I go to Puccini Opera I always in enjoy it more than I expect to

Somehow when I go to a Rossini Opera I always enjoy it less than I had hoped. As Oscar might have said. He has great moments but dull quarter hours.

I find Barbiere never fails and L'taliana and Il Turco delight too. But a couple of years ago we saw Cenerentola in Vienna and month later Joyce Di Donato at ROH in La Donna Del Lago and to me sadly both evenings dragged a little.


I think modern Opera houses are just to large for his music. I sometimes feel it with Mozart but sadly always with Rossini.


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## Queen of the Nerds (Dec 22, 2014)

A good CD full of Rossini is Joyce DiDonato's Colbran the Muse.
It's very good.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Belowpar said:


> When I go to Puccini Opera I always in enjoy it more than I expect to
> 
> Somehow when I go to a Rossini Opera I always enjoy it less than I had hoped. As Oscar might have said. He has great moments but dull quarter hours.
> 
> ...


I found that Donna del Lago dragged too, but it's not the opera, the conducting and production were dreadful.

N.


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## Diminuendo (May 5, 2015)

I really liked Il turco in Italia, Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola. In Barbiere I'm really amazed when the bass has to sing so quickly. Like in A un dottor della mia sorte. I really love the comedic bass roles. I haven't heard/seen that many of his works, but I'm eagerly waiting. I have the Callas Armida which I really should have listened a while ago. I really don't have enough time


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## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

A very witty man, who retired to become a bon vivant. I love tournedos rossini.
two favourite stories; 
On Wagner:
One can’t judge Lohengrin after a first hearing, and I certainly don’t intend hearing it a second time.

Rossini was once asked to listen to two pieces by a young Italian composer and tell him which he preferred. After playing the first, the young man was reaching for the score of the second when Rossini stopped him: ``There's no need to play further,'' he told him, ``I much prefer the second.''


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## Headphone Hermit (Jan 8, 2014)

Although he is (deservedly) best known for his operas, don't overlook his String Sonatas - they are very enjoyable (if you like music from that era)


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## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

And his Stabat Mater, delightful, though very operatic


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

On Rossini's retirement at the age of 32

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/arts/music/rossini-and-his-abrupt-farewell-to-opera.html?_r=0


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Rossini quotes:

"Give me the laundress' bill and I will set to music even that."

"I take him [Beethoven] twice a week, Haydn four times, and Mozart every day. You will tell me that Beethoven is a Colossus who often gives you a dig in the ribs, whilst Mozart is always adorable; it is that the latter had the chance of going very young to Italy, at a time when they still sang well."


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

DavidA said:


> On Rossini's retirement at the age of 32
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/arts/music/rossini-and-his-abrupt-farewell-to-opera.html?_r=0


Even if I am not so fond of Rossinis operas myself I must say it is really impressing that he composed that many operas that are still among the most popular at that young age. Donizettis earliest opera that is still really popular Anna Bolena premiered when he was 33 Puccini was 38 when La Boheme premiered and 34 when Manon Lescaut premiered.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Sloe said:


> Even if I am not so fond of Rossinis operas myself I must say it is really impressing that he composed that many operas that are still among the most popular at that young age. Donizettis earliest opera that is still really popular Anna Bolena premiered when he was 33 Puccini was 38 when La Boheme premiered and 34 when Manon Lescaut premiered.


Actually, Mozart didn't die in 1791.

He just feigned his death in order to escape from his creditors, and then he lived for many years in Italy working in disguise for a young and rather average Italian composer, named Rossini. This arrangement was very succesful until Mozart really died, and then Rossini was forced to retire.

This (a joke, of course) is the plot of an opera, _Un segreto d'importanza ovvero La faticosa vecchiaia di Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart_, by Sergio Rendine and Lorenzo Arruga, premiered at the Opera of Montecarlo, back in 1992.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

schigolch said:


> Actually, Mozart didn't die in 1791.
> 
> He just feigned his death in order to escape from his creditors, and then he lived for many years in Italy working in disguise for a young and rather average Italian composer, named Rossini. This arrangement was very succesful until Mozart really died, and then Rossini was forced to retire.
> 
> This (a joke, of course) is the plot of an opera, _Un segreto d'importanza ovvero La faticosa vecchiaia di Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart_, by Sergio Rendine and Lorenzo Arruga, premiered at the Opera of Montecarlo, back in 1992.


Rossini retired when he was 37 but he still composed many of his famous operas before he was 32 and even before he was 25.

If this is true about Mozart what was he doing between 1791 and 1810?


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Ask Mr. Rendine and Mr. Arruga...


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

I love Rossini...of course my best are Il Barbiere and La Cenerentola. But I like all Rossini I had time to listen to.
One opera that surprised me is Aureliano in Palmira. I have the DVD with Maria Aleida, Bogdan Mihai, Franco Fagioli
This is a beautiful part of it:


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Rossini is the first opera composer I really got to know, via his BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA. To me he's very much a late classical -- _early_ Romantic composer. I'd rarely mistake his music for, say, Donizetti's: Rossini's music is wittier, Donizetti's more elegiac. Compare BARBIERE to L'ELISIR D'AMORE to hear what I mean.

In addition to BARBIERE, LA CENERNTOLA (my favorite), L'ITALIANA IN ALGERI and IL TURCO IN ITALIA, I've also had the pleasure of hearing LA DONNA DEL LAGO (one of Rossini's "semi-serious" operas), with Florez and Di Donato in the Met HD. If I had to recommend a Rossini opera to start with, though, it would probably be BARBIERE or L'ITALIANA.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Just listening to this little beauty. Plot is bizarre but the music is another thing!


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

Steatopygous said:


> And his Stabat Mater, delightful, though very operatic


I was looking for where to post my that my favorite opera by Rossini is his "Stabat Mater" and found this thread 

It's really very operatic that I call it an " opera" :lol: well, Verdi's requiem is sort of operatic too. 
Currently listening to Stabat Mater composed after his "official retirement " this work is very different from his other operas . well, I can't say that I've listened to all his works to be precise just "La Cenerentola", " Il Barbiere", "L'Italiana in Algeri", " Il Turco in Italia", "Il viaggio a Reims" , and Stabat Mater reminds me of " Il viaggio", may be I have to listen to it again to compare. and I do realize that operas I listened to were his operas buffa, may be I have to compare it with his historical operas more serious operas haha, can't say his operas seria , and listen to G. Tell completely


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

​ *Must* have for every opera fan.
_Essential and unbeatable _:tiphat:


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

Pugg said:


> ​ *Must* have for every opera fan.
> _Essential and unbeatable _:tiphat:


Thank you Pugg. I will


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Pugg said:


> ​ *Must* have for every opera fan.
> _Essential and unbeatable _:tiphat:


Well, yes and no. This is a justly famous recording, and certainly demands to be heard for the contributions of Sutherland and Horne if nothing else, but Bonygne messes around with the score quite a bit, adding all sorts of high derivatives to show off his wife's fabulous top notes. Not that you can blame him with a voice like that at his disposal.

However to hear the score in an edition that Rossini himself might have recognised, you really need to hear the Naxos recording with Alex Penda. She doesn't have Sutherland's stunningly beautiful top notes, but she is dramatically much more inside the role. Furthermore you get a lot more music. Bonygne made extensive cuts and this version runs almost an hour longer.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

About "Semiramide", I love the vision of Alberto Zedda, an outstanding specialist in all Rossini, of course, but that in this piece achieves almost perfection, conducting an almost perfect opera. The version from Bologna, is a Rossinian masterclass.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

schigolch said:


> About "Semiramide", I love the vision of Alberto Zedda, an outstanding specialist in all Rossini, of course, but that in this piece achieves almost perfection, conducting an almost perfect opera. The version from Bologna, is a Rossinian masterclass.


I don't know it. How is the cast?


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## Braddan (Aug 23, 2015)

schigolch said:


> About "Semiramide", I love the vision of Alberto Zedda, an outstanding specialist in all Rossini, of course, but that in this piece achieves almost perfection, conducting an almost perfect opera. The version from Bologna, is a Rossinian masterclass.


I was fortunate enough to see *Zedda *conducting *Semiramide* at the Edinburgh Festival a few years ago. It was given in its entirety (as is usual for Zedda) so it was a long evening. I didn't care for the production - another modern concept that could have worked had it delivered dramatically. However, musically it was thrilling at times, far exceeding my expectations in what is a notoriously difficult piece to perform. I still haven't listened to any of his recorded versions so I, too, would be interested in your opinions and from anyone else who has heard it.


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## helenora (Sep 13, 2015)

GregMitchell said:


> Well, yes and no. This is a justly famous recording, and certainly demands to be heard for the contributions of Sutherland and Horne if nothing else, but Bonygne messes around with the score quite a bit, adding all sorts of high derivatives to show off his wife's fabulous top notes. Not that you can blame him with a voice like that at his disposal.
> 
> However to hear the score in an edition that Rossini himself might have recognised, you really need to hear the Naxos recording with Alex Penda. She doesn't have Sutherland's stunningly beautiful top notes, but she is dramatically much more inside the role. Furthermore you get a lot more music. Bonygne made extensive cuts and this version runs almost an hour longer.


thank you for the suggestion. But Pugg gave me an idea in what direction to see, namely Semiramide, because I said I had listened to Rossini's operas buffa. As for interpretation sure I can choose it and I'll listen to different ones as I usually do


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

GregMitchell said:


> I don't know it. How is the cast?












The cast includes Iano Tamar, Gloria Scalchi, Gregory Kunde, Ildebrando d' Arcangelo and Michele Pertusi. Yes, certainly there is no top singer like Horne or Sutherland here, but the ensemble was good enough to produce an outstanding result in the hands of Zedda. I remember also Zedda conducting "Semiramide" in Madrid, some ten years ago, with Angeles Blancas, Daniela Barcellona, Antonino Siragusa,... to great acclaim.

There is a recent addition, a "Semiramide" from Antwerp, with Papatanasiou and Hallenberg that it sounds a little bit duller to me, with an orchestra that appears even reluctant at times, some feeling of routine creeping in. But it's a nice performance, nonetheless.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

schigolch said:


> The cast includes Iano Tamar, Gloria Scalchi, Gregory Kunde, Ildebrando d' Arcangelo and Michele Pertusi. Yes, certainly there is no top singer like Horne or Sutherland here, but the ensemble was good enough to produce an outstanding result in the hands of Zedda. I remember also Zedda conducting "Semiramide" in Madrid, some ten years ago, with Angeles Blancas, Daniela Barcellona, Antonino Siragusa,... to great acclaim.
> 
> There is a recent addition, a "Semiramide" from Antwerp, with Papatanasiou and Hallenberg that it sounds a little bit duller to me, with an orchestra that appears even reluctant at times, some feeling of routine creeping in. But it's a nice performance, nonetheless.


Thank you. I'd looked up the Antwerp performance. wasn't aware of this one as well.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

This too is a great Semiramide (I believe it is complete (although this is the excerpts disc from the complete set)):









Studer and Larmore may not have quite the larger than life voices that Sutherland and Horne have, but I think they give them a run for their money when it comes to interpretation. Apart from Bonynge's performing edition, the male singers in his set are nowhere near the likes of the two prima donnas on his set. I think overall that makes the DG set the one that I would turn to first.

N.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

_Ermione_ was written during the Neapolitan period. It's a wonderful, inspired opera, with some numbers that are arguably right there with anything Rossini ever wrote, like Pirro's aria "Balena in man del figlio", or the great scene of Ermione in Act 2.

The vocal writing is quite difficult, what's logical given the alignment that Teatro San Carlo presented then: Isabella Colbran, Rosmunda Pisaroni, Andrea Nozzari, Giovanni David, Giuseppe Ciccimarra...

However, _Ermione_ was a big failure for Rossini. The opera was almost forgotten for a long time, until it was recovered at the Pesaro Rossini Festival, back in 1987, with Montserrat Caballé, Marilyn Horne, Chris Merritt and Rockwell Blake. It was not a complete succes either, mostly due to Ms. Caballé's performance. We can watch it in youtube:






The perfection, the almost geometric nature of _Semiramide_, it's transformed here into a much more passionate, almost Romantic score.

There is also a DVD from Glyndebourne available in youtube, with Ana Caterina Antonacci, Diana Montague, Bruce Ford and Jorge López-Yáñez:






But I would like also to recommend this excellent recording by Opera Rara:


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

The Conte said:


> This too is a great Semiramide (I believe it is complete (although this is the excerpts disc from the complete set)):
> 
> View attachment 77148
> 
> ...


Unfortunately I'm a bit allergic to Studer. It's one of those voices I've never got on with. Not quite sure why.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Rossini for cricket lovers!

http://slippedisc.com/2015/11/watch-the-dons-girl-keeps-zubin-waiting/


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

DavidA said:


> Just listening to this little beauty. Plot is bizarre but the music is another thing!
> 
> View attachment 73779


Rossini launched Bartoli's career. I saw her three times early on. She was invigorating, giving this composer a needed boost.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

GregMitchell said:


> Unfortunately I'm a bit allergic to Studer. It's one of those voices I've never got on with. Not quite sure why.


Me, too, and I would add Horne and Sutherland, which you vehemently would not agree with.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Vaneyes said:


> Me, too, and I would add Horne and Sutherland, which you vehemently would not agree with.


Well not necessarily. Both ladies are singers I admire rather than love. Neither of them made my top 10.

http://www.talkclassical.com/29183-singers-who-changed-my.html


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Of course, when anyone mentions an opera named "Otello", we almost automatically think about Verdi and his mature masterpiece.

However, a young man wrote another "Otello" several decades before. Yes, it was Rossini (though maybe Rossini's opera proper title was "Desdemona",... as well as Verdi's should be "Iago").

The opera was premiered at Naples, in 1816. It was a big success, and remained popular during most of the 19th century, until it was almost forgotten in the 20th.

Otello, Rodrigo and Iago are tenors, and very difficult roles to sing. Desdemona was written with the great singer Isabella Colbrán in mind. The original ending, like in "Tancredi", was tragic, but Rossini also wrote a happy one for the premiere at Rome, and even a ballet for the Paris premiere.

A very interesting hearing. Especially Act 2, that contains beautiful music and exciting drama. We can watch in youtube this 1988 performance from Pesaro, with a nice cast including Chris Merritt, June Anderson or Rockwell Blake:






And we have another great reading from Opera Rara:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

If I may be so bold:
This one stands out for me.
I lkie to add this one:










Carreras aod van Stade in such good voices.
Not to missed :tiphat:


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## Amara (Jan 12, 2012)

I'm glad to see Rossini's Otello brought up. This is my favorite rendition of his Willow Song, by Cecilia Bartoli. The most beautiful aria I've ever heard. A lovely showcase for the harp, as well.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

*Not to be missed:
*
​
*Rossini; La Donna del Lago.
Di Donato /Florez*


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Amara said:


> I'm glad to see Rossini's Otello brought up. This is my favorite rendition of his Willow Song, by Cecilia Bartoli. The most beautiful aria I've ever heard. A lovely showcase for the harp, as well.


In the Hummel aria which follows the Rossini the sound and picture get unsynchronized and Bartoli's physical contortions are revealed in all their hilarious absurdity. This is priceless!


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I love "La donna del lago", and the DVD above is a very nice one.

There is a version of this opera written by Rossini for the great tenor Rubini, for the premiere at Paris. It's incredibly difficult to sing, and it's not performed in these days, but Flórez recorded some fragments in his "Arias for Rubini", almost as in the original score, and it's really a wonderful listening, in my view:


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

He was a master at composing exciting, witty and climactic music. I don't always listen to whole operas on satellite radio, but if his or Donizetti's comic operas are on, I am glued to the speakers in my car. They make me feel good. Here is a speech I did that is on Youtube about my love of Rossini:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

This is a very nice book, by a huge expert in Rossini. Only drawback, is not published yet in English, as far as I'm aware. There is a Spanish translation available, though.


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## Dawood (Oct 11, 2015)

I've struggled to find a better beginning-to-end 'Barbiere' than this:









I've heard better voices and such, but this recording's Act 1 finale - it's just thunderous!


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

I'm definitely wanting to add the Otello with Von Stade and Carreras to my collection in the next year . I avoided Rossini so long because of the snippets that were known in popular culture (ie. the Lone Ranger Theme and the Figaro, Figaro, Figaro bit). I am SO glad that I gave him a go in spite of my misgivings.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Pugg said:


> *Not to be missed:
> *
> ​
> *Rossini; La Donna del Lago.
> Di Donato /Florez*


I saw this. Nice to know it's out on DVD.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

As you all know Rossini (and also other composers of the period), recycled his music often.

He even wrote some complete "pasticcio" like this _Ivanhoe_, where you can find music from several operas like _Semiramide, La Cenerentola, Armida, Maometto II, Tancredi_,... But that is a very nice piece, in my view:


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

The Conte said:


> His music can give a false impression of being more facile than it is. Most underrated Rossini opera?
> 
> Matilde di Shabran:
> 
> ...


The Act II sextet "È palese il tradimento" is brilliant. (Rossini used the melody in Viaggio a Reims / Le Comte Ory.) Most underrated, though? Zelmira and Ricciardo & Zoraide, maybe.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

As a homage to the late Alberto Zedda, this is a very nice performance of "Il viaggio a Reims", some years ago in A Coruña:


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Dawood said:


> I've struggled to find a better beginning-to-end 'Barbiere' than this:
> 
> View attachment 77737
> 
> ...


Recently recommended version on BBC radio 3


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Dawood said:


> I've struggled to find a better beginning-to-end 'Barbiere' than this:
> 
> View attachment 77737
> 
> ...


I was about to post that this is one I don't have but looking at my files, I see it is there. Three disks for some reason. Going to have to give it another listen.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

DavidA said:


> Recently recommended version on BBC radio 3


They have a very strange taste .


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

*Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 - 13 November 1868)*



DavidA said:


> "I take him [Beethoven] twice a week, Haydn four times, and Mozart every day."


"The Germans have always been at every time the greatest harmonists and the Italians the greatest melodists. But from the moment that the North produced a Mozart, we of the South were beaten on our own ground, because this man rises above both nations, uniting in himself all the charms of Italian melody and all the profundity of German harmony." -Rossini
< The Triumph of Music: Composers, Musicians and Their Audiences, 1700 to the Present / Tim Blanning / PT270 >


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

hammeredklavier said:


> "The Germans have always been at every time the greatest harmonists and the Italians the greatest melodists. But from the moment that the North produced a Mozart, we of the South were beaten on our own ground, because this man rises above both nations, uniting in himself all the charms of Italian melody and all the profundity of German harmony." -Rossini
> < The Triumph of Music: Composers, Musicians and Their Audiences, 1700 to the Present / Tim Blanning / PT270 >


I don't think you made it clear with your above quoted post that David A did NOT write that post. It was Rossini.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Well many of you know by now I love Sutherland. A friend gave me most of her operas on pristine vinyl. By far my favorite is Semiramide. What a bitch that one must be to cast. It is not the most exciting of plots but who cares. It is some of the most beautiful music ever recorded. I will also say that Bel Raggio is one of the most spectacular arias ever penned. The mezzo arias are showstoppers.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Well many of you know by now I love Sutherland. A friend gave me most of her operas on pristine vinyl. By far my favorite is Semiramide. What a bitch that one must be to cast. It is not the most exciting of plots but who cares. It is some of the most beautiful music ever recorded. I will also say that Bel Raggio is one of the most spectacular arias ever penned. The mezzo arias are showstoppers.


It's very much one of the most underrated operas, but Rossini's serious operas are all overlooked (they are very difficult to cast well, are very long and Donizetti and Verdi soon made them look old fashioned with their fast paced music dramas). Are you familiar with Ermione? There's a superb recording on Opera Rara, it's well worth searching out.

N.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

The Conte said:


> It's very much one of the most underrated operas, but Rossini's serious operas are all overlooked (they are very difficult to cast well, are very long and Donizetti and Verdi soon made them look old fashioned with their fast paced music dramas). Are you familiar with Ermione? There's a superb recording on Opera Rara, it's well worth searching out.
> 
> N.


I don't love Rossini's *Semiramide* enough to get a second recording. I used to have the Sutherland version on LP but didn't get in ob CD and bought instead the Naxos version with Alex Penda, which is quite good. It's about an hour longer than the Sutherland version, as Bonynge cut quite a lot of the score out. The singing isn't as spectacular as Sutherland and Horne, and in any case I don't much like the mezzo on it, but Penda is dramatically thrilling, if a little wild at times.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I don't love Rossini's *Semiramide* enough to get a second recording. I used to have the Sutherland version on LP but didn't get in ob CD and bought instead the Naxos version with Alex Penda, which is quite good. It's about an hour longer than the Sutherland version, as Bonynge cut quite a lot of the score out. The singing isn't as spectacular as Sutherland and Horne, and in any case I don't much like the mezzo on it, but Penda is dramatically thrilling, if a little wild at times.


Is that the singer formerly known as Alexandra Pendatchanska? (Sp?) . She was very exciting. 
I have the Sutherland/Horne and the Studer/Larmore, which is more than complete. I quite like it. I got hooked when I saw every performance of the Caballe/Horne is San Francisco way back when.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> Well many of you know by now I love Sutherland. A friend gave me most of her operas on pristine vinyl. By far my favorite is Semiramide. What a bitch that one must be to cast. It is not the most exciting of plots but who cares. It is some of the most beautiful music ever recorded. I will also say that Bel Raggio is one of the most spectacular arias ever penned. The mezzo arias are showstoppers.


What? You don't think it exciting that a mother kills her husband, falls in love with her unbeknownst son, who is a woman, and kills his mother by mistake (depending on the version) and is a four hour coloratura fest? What's wrong with you? :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

MAS said:


> What? You don't think it exciting that a mother kills her husband, falls in love with her unbeknownst son, who is a woman, and kills his mother by mistake (depending on the version) and is a four hour coloratura fest? What's wrong with you? :lol: :lol: :lol:


LOL. When you put it like that. My failing is I often listen to the music without knowing what the plot it. I've never seen the opera all the way though. Just love the wonderful music and singing.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

Seattleoperafan said:


> LOL. When you put it like that. My failing is I often listen to the music without knowing what the plot it. I've never seen the opera all the way though. Just love the wonderful music and singing.


It is my favorite Rossini opera seria. It is too bad that they didn't offer *Semiramide* to Callas after *Armida*. But there's a rumor that she couldn't accept singing opposite a trouser role. Frank Hamilton in "The Recordings of Maria Callas," (Stereo Review, or High Fidelity) says that after Armida, "Semiramide should have followed. Even the flawed "Bel Raggio" is sung with unique authority."


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

MAS said:


> Is that the singer formerly known as Alexandra Pendatchanska? (Sp?) . She was very exciting.


Yes that's the one. What happened to her? The name doesn't seem to come up very often.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

MAS said:


> Is that the singer formerly known as Alexandra Pendatchanska? (Sp?) . She was very exciting.
> I have the Sutherland/Horne and the Studer/Larmore, which is more than complete. I quite like it. I got hooked when I saw every performance of the Caballe/Horne is San Francisco way back when.


I have Studer/Larmore (of course!) and apart from the cuts in the Sutherland/Horne, the men are quite weakly cast, whereas you get Ramey and Lopardo in the Studer/Larmore. I also have the live Sutherland/Simionato from La Scala as my second set, which also has many cuts, but Sutherland is far more exciting than on her studio version.

N.


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## mparta (Sep 29, 2020)

The Conte said:


> I have Studer/Larmore (of course!) and apart from the cuts in the Sutherland/Horne, the men are quite weakly cast, whereas you get Ramey and Lopardo in the Studer/Larmore. I also have the live Sutherland/Simionato from La Scala as my second set, which also has many cuts, but Sutherland is far more exciting than on her studio version.
> 
> N.


I realize there's a lot of good music in Semiramide, but having seen it in the theatre..
It's just intolerably foolish dreck. And I find this is the one circumstance in which Rossini's inability or unwillingness to tailor his "happy" music to the task just undoes the whole thing for me. The chorus, he-yump, he-yump, he-yump (I guess it's the end of the first act) is over the top awful.
Rossini headed in the right direction with the less bizarre historical plots with some historical analogy or relation to his own time, Moses, Tell and the Muslim wars. Semiramide just is too wacky for me. Sorry. I have often listened for the music and ignored the foolishness, but this one beats me.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

mparta said:


> I realize there's a lot of good music in Semiramide, but having seen it in the theatre..
> It's just intolerably foolish dreck. And I find this is the one circumstance in which Rossini's inability or unwillingness to tailor his "happy" music to the task just undoes the whole thing for me. The chorus, he-yump, he-yump, he-yump (I guess it's the end of the first act) is over the top awful.
> Rossini headed in the right direction with the less bizarre historical plots with some historical analogy or relation to his own time, Moses, Tell and the Muslim wars. Semiramide just is too wacky for me. Sorry. I have often listened for the music and ignored the foolishness, but this one beats me.


That is why I don't open the libretto. Someone is tut tutting me right about now LOL


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

mparta said:


> I realize there's a lot of good music in Semiramide, but having seen it in the theatre..
> It's just intolerably foolish dreck. And I find this is the one circumstance in which Rossini's inability or unwillingness to tailor his "happy" music to the task just undoes the whole thing for me. The chorus, he-yump, he-yump, he-yump (I guess it's the end of the first act) is over the top awful.
> Rossini headed in the right direction with the less bizarre historical plots with some historical analogy or relation to his own time, Moses, Tell and the Muslim wars. Semiramide just is too wacky for me. Sorry. I have often listened for the music and ignored the foolishness, but this one beats me.


Suspension of disbelief is essential in some operas. The plot is superfluous or unimportant. The singing in these operas is what's important. Directors who try to "improve" or modernize the staging do not help, either.


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## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Semiramide is one of my favorite Rossini operas along with La Cenerentola, L'italiana in Algeri, Mose, Guglielmo Tell. And who cares about the plot when it's music by Maestro Rossini?
Having seen the whole of Semiramide live (under late Alberto Zedda), clocking close to 4 hours, I stand by every note of it.


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## The Wolf (Apr 28, 2017)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Yes that's the one. What happened to her? The name doesn't seem to come up very often.


Since a few years ago she changed her artistic name to Alex Penda. I think "La finta giardiniera" with Jacobs was the first album where she appeared with that name.

http://www.alexpenda.com/


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