Search - Gioachino Rossini, Will Humburg, Budapest Failoni Chamber Orchestra :: Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) / Servile, Ganassi, Vargas, Romero, de Grandis; Humburg

Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) / Servile, Ganassi, Vargas, Romero, de Grandis; Humburg
Gioachino Rossini, Will Humburg, Budapest Failoni Chamber Orchestra
Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) / Servile, Ganassi, Vargas, Romero, de Grandis; Humburg
Genre: Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (17) - Disc #2
  •  Track Listings (21) - Disc #3


     
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Ramos Vargas shines in this bargain "Barbiere"
Joseph A. Newsome | Burlington, NC United States | 04/11/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Naxos label has done a wonderful job of providing opera-lovers with inexpensive recordings of both repertory and rare operas. This recording of Rossini's perennial "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" sets a standard which will be hard to sustain. The orchestra, a group of players from the Hungarian State Opera, are lively and alert to the musical presentation desired by conductor Humburg. The soloists are, with few exceptions, wonderful. Roberto Servile in the title role is as good as modern baritones get in the role--he sings well and is having a marvelous time of it. Franco de Grandis sings splendidly as Don Basilio. Sonia Ganassi, singing Rosina, brings good coloratura technique to Rossini's sometimes fiendish writing, but somehow lacks those indefinable qualities which make a great Rosina. Ramon Vargas, however, is the real star of this set. In order to find a Count this well-sung, one must find the RCA recording with Cesare Valletti or the Decca with Ugo Benelli. Vargas has a larger, more tradition lyric tenor voice than either of his prestigious predecessors, but he sings the coloratura with exhilarating ease...even in the treacherous and oft-omitted "Cessa di piu resistere." A marvelous performance, and practically a steal at this rock-bottom price! Buy it!"
A refreshing and vital contribution to this Rossini masterpi
N. Freidin | Huntington, WV | 05/21/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Will Humburg's direction of Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia is the most refreshing recording of this masterpiece in decades. Recorded complete, with mostly unknown singers (Ramon Vargas excepted), this version brings out the lightness and sheer joy of the score. The singers are first rate vocal actors, and truly funny. Even the 'special effects', mostly the opening and slamming of creaky doors, brings a chuckle to the listener. This is an ensemble opera, and the interjections during the arias, the verve of the performances, gives one the feeling of being at a live show. Humburg, with his Hungarian chamber orchestra, keeps up the frenetic pace most skilfully. The sound is excellent.



Forget the big names, Callas, de los Angeles, Bartoli, Prey, Domingo, etc... this is the recording which really conveys the fun intended in this opera. And with the Naxos sound, and price, one could hardly wish for more !"
First choice.
Jose Miguel Poncela Ramos | Spain | 06/14/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've heard many performances, live and recorded, of this inmortal Rossini's work, and I must say that, as a studio recording, to me this is one of the best availables.



Ramon Vargas is one of the most famous lyric tenors of the present and those days (it was recorded in 1992) he was young, and really fresh-soundig in this repertoire (try his first belcanto recital CD in the label Clavés). He sounds marvelous with an excelent management of the agilities in his role of Almaviva. He sings the very famous aria: 'Cesa de piu resistire' in way that only Juan Diego Florez can match today. The reputation of Sonia Ganassi has grown notabily since she recorded this role years ago, and now she is recognized as one of the best mezzos for this kind of repertoire, and she was superb yet in this set. The veteran Angelo Romero sound very much like Enzo Dara and is the real star of the performance with his funny old-fashioned-but-stilysh singing. Roberto Servile was a bright promise in begining of the 90's as a lyric baritone, but his carreer was then not so brilliant. Anyway here he sounds fresh, with beauty light voice and spirited ways. Franco de Grandis had a respectable career in the 80's and 90's, recording with Karajan or Muti.



On the other hand, the underrated Will Humburg made an amazing and very musical work managing and conducting the recitatives becoming them the real engine of the performance. I've never heard before (but in the old Callas's set in EMI) such intensity in the dialogues and recitative parts... even sometimes sounds like an old screw-ball comedy. Complete partiture. Almost Alberto Zedda's revision.



Youthful, funny and theatrical perfomance, with today starry singers in his prime."