Rossini William

Following the success of two recent Rossini recordings, the sacred Stabat Mater and the opera William Tell, Antonio Pappano and his Orchestra e Coro dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia have taken on the composer’s late masterpiece, the Petite Messe solennelle. The soloists are Marina Rebeka, Sara Mingardo, Francesco Meli and Alex Esposito. Like the earlier-mentioned Rossini titles, the Petite Messe solennelle was recorded in the Orchestra’s acoustically fine home, the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome.

Ermione is one of Rossini's greatest operas. The libretto by Andrea Tottola based on the tragedy by Racine, Andromaque, is one of the richest Rossini ever set, for Tottola in boiling down Racine retained the essence of the play without producing the silliness which so often characterizes bel canto librettos. Possibly, it was the atrength of the libretto that inspired Rossini to write his most profound and innovative opera. He is uncompromising on his demands on the singers. The opera also makes huge demands on the producer since there are major roles for at least three first-class tenors as well as extremely demanding music for a soprano, a contralto or mezzo soprano and a bass. The orchestral and chorus demands are also very high.

(…) Concert reviews in England have been ecstatic, and, to judge from the Barber and a recital of Rossini arias, she [Cecilia Bartoli] may be the real article: a young singer with a generous vocal endowment and, more unusual, a distinctive and communicative musical personality. Hear this performance for her. New York Magazine 15-jan-1990

A superb Rossini rarity receives an idiomatic account. Cecilia Gasdia is a touching Zelmira, and William Matteuzzi as her lover Ilo is in fine fettle. –- BBC Music Magazine
the register for William Matteuzzi as Ilio is very high indeed. It is creditable that he makes it all sound so easy and natural as he soars into the stratosphere. Cecilia Gasdia is also completely unfazed by all the difficulties in the title role…Bernarda Fink is superlative. –-MusicWeb International

The most comprehensive edition devoted to Gioachino Rossini marking his 150th anniversary. Born in 1792, Rossini was the most popular opera composer of his time. Although he retired from the Opera scene in 1829, he continued to compose in other genres, including sacred music, piano and chamber works. He did gather his late works under the ironic title Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age), which veils a true collection of masterworks.

Ricciarelli, the Ninetta, is a loyal and accomplished Rossinian and a regular visitor to Pesaro. Her vocal portrait of this wronged country girl may strike some as being too sophisticated. I recall an old 78rpm recording of Ninetta's cavatina sung by Lina Pagliughi that seemed to strike exactly the right note of unaffected artlessness. No need to count the spoons after this girl had left for town. Ricciarelli, by contrast, rather cossets the music and occasionally elaborates it, attempting in the process perhaps to suggest a degree of vocal ease that she does not now quite possess. As an old man, Rossini wrote variants and cadenzas for this cavatina for the soprano Giuseppina Vitali but Ricciarelli appears to be using her own ornaments.

The most comprehensive edition devoted to Gioachino Rossini marking his 150th anniversary. Born in 1792, Rossini was the most popular opera composer of his time. Although he retired from the Opera scene in 1829, he continued to compose in other genres, including sacred music, piano and chamber works. He did gather his late works under the ironic title Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age), which veils a true collection of masterworks.

The most comprehensive edition devoted to Gioachino Rossini marking his 150th anniversary. Born in 1792, Rossini was the most popular opera composer of his time. Although he retired from the Opera scene in 1829, he continued to compose in other genres, including sacred music, piano and chamber works. He did gather his late works under the ironic title Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age), which veils a true collection of masterworks.

Guillaume Tell is an opera in four acts by Gioachino Rossini to a French libretto by Etienne de Jouy and Hippolyte Bis, based on Friedrich Schiller's play Wilhelm Tell. It was first performed at the Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique on 3 August 1829. Based on the legend of William Tell, this opera was Rossini's last, even though the composer lived for nearly forty more years. The William Tell Overture, with its famous finale, is a major part of the concert and recording repertoire…

Back by popular demand, The Toscanini Collection is a reissue of RCA's 1992 compendium that encompassed all of the recordings Toscanini made with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and NBC Symphony. A new addition to this amazing collection is his approved recordings with the BBC Symphony from the 1930s that were not included in the 1992 edition.