Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Melodrama buffo in two acts
Figaro ~ Thomas Allen, Baritone
Rosina ~ Agnes Baltsa, Mezzo-soprano
Almaviva ~ Francisco Araiza, Tenor
Bartolo ~ Domenico Trimarchi, Baritone
Basilio ~ Robert Lloyd, Bass
Berta ~ Sally Burgess, Mezzo-soprano
Fiorello ~ Matthew Best, Bass
Ufficiale ~ John Noble, Baritone
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Ambrosian Opera Chorus. Director: John McCarthy
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Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.
Conductor: Sir Neville Marriner
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Mezzo-soprano Agnes Baltsa was born on the Greek island of Lefkas on 19 November 1944. From the age of six she took piano lessons. In 1958 she moved to Athens where she graduated from the conservatory in 1965. In the same year she won a Maria Callas scholarship which enabled her to continue her studies in Munich (Germany). In 1968 she made her first appearance as Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro, Mozart) at the Frankfurt Opera, followed by Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier, R. Strauss) at the Vienna State Opera in 1970. Until today, she is the youngest Ocativian ever at the Vienna State Opera.
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Sir Thomas Allen is an established star of the great opera houses of the world. At the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, where in 2006 he celebrated the thirty-fifth anniversary of his début with the company, he has sung over forty roles. In 2006, he also celebrated his twenty-fifth anniversary of his début at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Equally renowned on the concert platform, he appears in recital in the United Kingdom, throughout Europe, in Australia and America, and has performed with the world's great orchestras and conductors. The greatest part of his repertoire has been extensively recorded.
His plans include a return to the Metropolitan Opera; his role debut as Gianni Schicchi for Los Angeles Opera, Don Alfonso (Cosi fan tutte) at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich and for Dallas Opera and Father (Hansel und Gretel) and Faninal (Der Rosenkavalier) for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.
He made a triumphant directing debut in 2003 with ‘Albert Herring’ at the Royal College of Music and he has recently directed tremendously successful productions of ‘Don Giovanni’ and ‘Così fan tutte’ for Samling Opera at The Sage, Gateshead. He made an equally acclaimed U.S. directing debut with ‘Le nozze di Figaro’ for Arizona Opera at the beginning of the 2006/07 season and with ‘Il barbiere di Siviglia’ for Scottish Opera in 2007.
In the New Year's Honours of 1989 he was created a Commander of the British Empire and, in the 1999 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was made a Knight Bachelor.
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Philips 1983. Format: Flac 3 disks.
Libretto incl: Courtesy of KAREOL.
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Disk 1: 190 mb.
Disk 2: 184 mb.
Disk 3: 241 mb.
3 comments:
It's a wonderful Il barbiere di Siviglia recording.
Do you have the similar cast's La Cenerentola recording? I got it a few years ago, but lost it somehow.
Where is Libretto incl: Courtesy of KAREOL?
Thank You. Great post
Rossini was so important to the the Italian classic music, he wrote 39 operas as well as sacred music, chamber music, songs, and some instrumental and piano pieces., I think that this music is great to sleep well !!!
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