Customer Reviews

Rossini - L'Italiana in Algeri / Horne · Ramey · Battle · Palacio · Zaccaria · I Solisti Veneti · Scimone

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Horne is simply the best. She has an improbable voice - not really what you expect - but no one else has ever sung the core Rossini mezzo repertoire so well.

There have been only a few singers who have transformed the repertoire. Maria Callas was one, Sam Ramey is another. If you listen to Pasero's Assur you may admire it, but if you have heard Ramey you probably won't even recognize it. Pasero leaves so many of the notes out it becomes an different piece - one that he could sing. In a real sense then Ramey has invented the serious Rossini bass for the twentieth century.

In this recording Palacio is much less awful than he often has been. If you have heard his contribution to Ermione, be assured, he not that bad. He does not ruin this fine recording.

We all regret that Kathleen Battle went bonkers. Here she is good example of what we lost.

This is probably the best version available. It is certainly a bargain.

Great recording, but be warned, the libretto is only in Italian. So if you don't have any other recordings of this, and you don't speak Italian and you want to know what is going on, maybe go for another recording.

L'Italiana in Algeri is a hot & fun opera.....The duets and the ensembles are especially giddy and full of lustful yet comic high speeding word to word leaps and soaring runabouts.And there are some lovely arias here to.Just listen to Kathleen Battle spin golden melodies by herself at intervals through out the opera.Kathleen Battle is one beautiful black woman & she possess a voice to match,She sings rossini like she was born to do it ,the way she does it melts your icecream & has you standing up to give her your last arcane box of accolades & praiseworthies....I'll tell you this recording is one of the best out there,and should be in every library and tasteful home.

This is a well done idiomatically correct version of a delightful Rossini opera. If you only know the composer from the Barber of Seville, you owe it to yourself to explore his other work. Marlyn Horne is a quintessential Rossini mezzo.

Highly Recommended.

I met the happiest Rossini opera thanks to this recording, and i have to say, i never listened a moved version in my life. The Abbado version is so "correct", no freedom to the singers, nobody takes his time but are running. In this version Horne gives us more energy, she laugh, she perform a stage part, not only a singer part. Ramey is the best Mustafa, neihet Corena, nor Bruscantini nor Petri nor even Raimondi reach the quality of his voice. Battle is the unique Elvira who is to remember, the other, execpt Sciutti, are secondes. Palacio is good too, but I prefer Lopardo. Trimarchi is more BUFFO than the same Dara. In conclusion, you will feel a opera where the thing are moving, as the singers as the situations. You will be glad of this recording, even the orchestration in the Abbado version is better.

Fortunately, this was my first choice of "Italiana" Horne is at her best, for real (as always). And Ramey as Mustafa delivers one of the most beautiful lessons of how a bass should sing a buffo role. Unfortunately it's a rare recording so if you see it available, order as soon as you can. And stay clear form the Alva/Corena one.

Both Berganza and Horne recorded L'Italiana and a comparison of the two recordings is wothwhile. Horne is more involved in the character, and her singing is undoubtedly spectacular. While Berganza is more subdued, she still is "in" the role quite nicely, and the rest of her cast is good. Berganza can match Horne note for note, but the voice never becomes harsh and overly "chesty." I think it may come down to whether you prefer more acting, or prettier sound from a mezzo. My vote goes to Berganza, but you really should listen to both before buying. (Callas fans will of course want her version, if available.)

All the cast were at the peak of their careers and sound great. Especially good are Ramey and Battle. I've never heard such a nimble Bosso voice as Ramey and Battle gets to show off some of her great coloratura and is able to cut right through the big chorus sets and be heard. But, as some others have pointed out, the balancing of orchasrta and voice is not the best, surprising since this is a studio recording not live.

isn't so much... We have to turn it way up to hear the vocals and then when the instrumental accompaniment comes in, it blasts us out. Adjusting the equalizer doesn't help.

The libretto was only in Italian. We expected the libretto to be in both Italian and English. How does one enjoy an opera with a non-english libretto. We are not very literate in Italian (in fact - not at all).