Rossini: Sigismondo (Pesaro 2010) (Daniela Barcellona/ Andrea Concetti/ Olga Peretyatko/ Teatro Comunale di Bologna/ Damiano Michieletto/ Michele Mariotti) (Arthaus: 101648)
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"The Rossini Festival in Pesaro is a little Italian variant of Bayreuth and Salzburg - it has national importance and an international audience. It keeps up the opera and vocal culture which has elsewhere long since disappeared. There should be more such rewarding festivals ..."
Suddeutsche ZeitungLIVE RECORDING FROM THE ROSSINI OPERA FESTIVAL PESARO, 2010Sigismondo'
DANIELA BARCELLONAUlderico / Zenovito'
ANDREA CONCETTIAldimira'
OLGA PERETYATKOLadislao'
ANTONINO SIRAGUSATEATRO COMUNALE DI BOLOGNAConducted by
MICHELE MARIOTTIStage Directed by
DAMIANO MICHIELETTOWorld Premiere Recording!Early Rossini has something buoyant, vibrant, youthful about it - even when it is a "dramma per musica" such as
Sigismondo, a dark swirl of an opera revolving around a mad king and his delusions, his wife who is allegedly dead but very much alive, the fate of Poland and much more. Premiered in 1814 but rarely played thereafter, the work deserves to be resurrected, if only for its many beautiful and original arias and ensembles, some of which were such brilliant little masterpieces that he reused them in his later successes such as
Il turco in Italia, La Cenerentola and
Il barbiere di Siviglia. The work was given its first performance from the critical new edition at the 2010 Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro. The press hailed the production as a
"perfect symbiosis of music and stage work" that yields
"truly brilliant theater". Director
Damiano Michieletto sets the first act in a startlingly realistic "insane asylum" of around 1900, where King Sigismondo has been placed after losing his mind over his wife's death, which he, convinced of her infidelity, had ordered. The second act takes place in an elegantly appointed royal palace, where Sigismondo, who has now recovered, must confront an assault by the Bohemian army and decide upon Poland's fate. Mezzo
Daniela Barcellona - a sought-after Rossini and Verdi singer - portrays the mad King Sigismondo with fierce intensity and effortlessly fl owing coloraturas; restored to health in the second act, her
Sigismondo dominates the stage as ruler of Poland, alongside
Olga Peretyatko,
Antonino Siragusa and
Andrea Concetti. Bringing youthful exuberance and supreme musicality to his conducting is
Michele Mariotti, principal conductor of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and acclaimed maestro at La Scala, the Met and other leading houses.
Special Feature' Making Of Sigismondo.