Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri

Sparkily conducted by James Levine, Ponnelle's 1986 Met production goes for broad comedy rather than subtlety, but Marilyn Horne knows exactly how to sing Isabella, and receives strong buffo... — BBC Music Magazine, May 2007, More…

Release Date: 19th Feb 2007
Catalogue No: 0734261
Label: DG

Gramophone Magazine

July 2007

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Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri

Staged and Directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Marilyn Horne (Isabella), Paolo Montarsolo (Mustafa), Douglas Ahlstedt (Lindoro), Allan Monk (Taddeo), Myra Merritt (Elvira), Diane Kesling (Zulma), Spiro Malas (Haly)
Metropolitan Opera
James Levine

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Favourites, Gioacchino Rossini

Katherine sifts through some favourite recordings of one of her favourite composers…

From the Metropolitan Opera in January 1986

Reviews

May 2007

Sparkily conducted by James Levine, Ponnelle's 1986 Met production goes for broad comedy rather than subtlety, but Marilyn Horne knows exactly how to sing Isabella, and receives strong buffo support from Paolo Montarsolo.

July 2007

…the staging is, for the most part, imaginative and stylish, even at times rather beautiful. …Marilyn Horne's… glowing enjoyment is a great life-enhancer throughout, and her voice, if a little less full-bodied than of old on top, is still rich, flexible and utterly individual. Levine conducts with good-humoured firmness, and the orchestra play as though Rossini is their number-one composer.

2011 edition

Horne is the great star focus...She is predictably brilliant in the coloratura passages, with her commanding presence not getting in the way of a sense of fun...The production by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle is brightly attractive, and the direction is at the service of the performance. Levine conducts with characteristic energy.

May 2014

This rumbustious, sparkling production of Rossini's 'Italian Girl' by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle has to be one of the very best DVDs from the Metropolitan Opera during the 1980s: Marilyn Horne combines statuesque stage-presence with keen comic timing as the feisty Isabella, with Paolo Montarsolo gleefully lecherous as Mustafà. Oh, and the sets are terrific - the shipwreck which brings Isabella & Taddeo to Algiers rightly gets its own round of applause!

Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri

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Favourites, Gioacchino Rossini