This is one of those great Rossinian singing competitions in which everyone–and, in particular, the listeners–wins. Composed as a piece of occasional entertainment for the coronation of Charles X in Paris, Rossini borrowed liberally from his recent comic success Le Comte Ory and fashioned a musical necklace chock filled with one shiny bauble after another. Each character has a showpiece aria, from the highs of soprano Cecilia Gasdia as a melodramatic poetess all the way down to the basso realms of Samuel Ramey and Ruggero Raimondi. The ensembles are as delicious as the solos, and Claudio Abbado, in a very theatrical mood (this was recorded live) keeps everything going wittily and with great elan. The plot is practically nonexistent, but with singing like this, it's hard to complain.

It is probably now or never. With classic older sets vying with a clutch of more recent recordings, there is currently as complete and interesting an array of recordings of Rossini's La Cenerentola as we are likely to get at any one time. Among recent versions, Chailly's new Decca set is self-evidently a powerful contender. Cecilia Bartoli is arguably the most personable and musically accomplished Cenerentola since Teresa Berganza recorded the role with Abbado in 1971; and there is a strong cast of supporting principals, among them Alessandro Corbelli who offers the best characterized Dandini since Bruscantini. (With the added advantage of being far more technically expert in fioriture passages than was his distinguished predecessor.)

Claudio Abbado’s youthful Beatle­cut marks the age of this film‚ still one of the better screen Barbieres if not absolutely the best. Jean­Pierre Ponnelle based it on his Scala stagings‚ but filmed it‚ as he always preferred‚ in studio and in lip­sync – more successfully than most. As a result‚ it looks and sounds very much fresher on DVD than contemp­orary videotapes.

“Il mondo della luna” fu scritto da Paisiello durante il suo soggiorno in Russia, ospite a San Pietroburgo della zarina Caterina II che lo impiegò a corte come maestro di cappella. L’opera, su un testo di Carlo Goldoni, venne rappresentata nel 1783, per l’apertura del nuovo Imperial Teatro di pietra per festeggiare il giorno dell’incoronazione di S.M.I. Caterina II.

Composed for the coronation of Charles X in Rheims Cathedral, this pièce de circonstance was to remain Rossini's last Italian opera. It contains some of the most inspired and brilliant vocal writing the composer ever produced. Most experts and analysts agree that this is an unconventinal opera, light and ironic, festive and exuberant, with a plot as simple as it is extrvagant, a work full of musical references which almost turn it, very subtly, into a "metaopera," or an "opera about opera."

Den zu seiner Zeit ungemein beliebten Buffa-Fabrikanten Cimarosa hat von allen seinen etwa 80 Opern nur Die heimliche Ehe überlebt. Diesem Meisterwerk dichtete Eduard Hanslick eine Liaison mit Mozarts Figaro an, womit er die stilistische Stellung des Werkes geistreich umriß. Die Uraufführung in Wien (1792) führte zu einem kaiserlich verfügten, sensationellen Dacapo der ganzen Oper noch am selben Abend. Lobenswertes findet man in jeder der existenten Einspielungen, auch an diesem Live-Zusammenschnitt aus dem Teatro Pergolesi von Jesi, an dem sich das Orchester mit relativ dünnem, flachem Klang beteiligte.

Amor rende sagace è il tipico caso di settecentesca strategia promozionale. L' operina della ditta Bertati/Cimarosa nacque per sfruttare lo storico successo ottenuto qualche mese prima dal Matrimonio segreto (fu bissata per intera la sera della prima), di cui riflette qualche soluzione espressiva ma non l' inimitabile impasto di comicità e patetismo. Di ciò è consapevole il poeta che così si scusa nella premessa al libretto: "dove gioca in principalità la buffoneria, non può aver gran luogo quello che interessa il cuore". In effetti, dal punto di vista strutturale e narrativo Amore rende sagace, titolo di felice sintesi comportamentale, scorre entro binari prevedibili e solerti: non frenato da smancerie sentimentali.

Cecilia Bartoli both thrills the senses and touches the heart in Rossini's sparkling comedy, her feisty Cinderella combining rebelliousness with pathos, vocal beauty with stunning virtuosity. She and a star cast of Italian principals captivate the Houston audience in this exuberant Bologna production, recorded live in November 1995.

The stellar cast of this popular opera includes superb singers as well as excellent actors like Kathleen Battle, Leo Nucci, Rockwell Blake, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Enza Dara
Critical praise for this production: “One of [the Met’s] most ingenious stagings in recent years…made to order for a great Rossini ensemble” (New York Times ) – and for this ensemble: “Battle’s coloratura flowed with astonishing ease and grace, beautifully varied in color” (New York Times). “Alongside Battle’s stunning Rosina, the cast is close to ideal…Blake’s Almaviva is extraordinary…Nucci is a remarkable Figaro…Furlanetto makes a formidable Basilio, Dara an irresistible Bartolo” (Répertoire)

A studio recording made in association with staged performances in Vienna in 1989 features the very beefy Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Abbado with Agnes Baltsa’s tangy mezzo giving a very characterful portrayal as Isabella. …[E]xpert Rossinians Corbelli and Enzo Dara sing Haly and Taddeo and are joined by a very characterful Ruggero Raimondi as Mustafa. Despite the size of the band, the performance goes along with zip with the finale of act one particularly invigorating.

–Robert J. Farr

It would be hard to imagine a better performance of Donizetti's comic masterpiece. If there was one role that ideally suited Luciano Pavarotti's voice and stage personality, it was Nemorino, the impoverished and not-very-bright peasant who worships the village's prettiest and richest young woman from a distance, is swindled by a traveling vendor of "miracle" medicines, but wins her hand by dumb luck. The story has comedy, pathos, and a put-down of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (or at least the Tristan story) written long before Wagner composed it.