Rossini: Il Turco in Italia

原始简介

Chailly has recorded the work before, but in the years since he's matured as a Rossini conductor, and the Scala orchestra has this music under its fingers; there's an energy and vitality to this playing that's infectious. For his earlier recording, Montserrat Caballé was an underpowered Fiorilla; but Cecilia Bartoli is full of fire and mettle here (her 'Squallido veste bruna' is sensational). Michele Pertusi is a fine Selim whose performance seems to breathe stage experience – it's a characterisation that's as vocally fine as it's theatrically adept. Alessandro Corbelli, reinforcing his credentials as a Rossini singer of flair and panache, is a strongly characterised Geronio. This is a recording that smacks of the theatre, and unlike so many so-called comic operas, has lost nothing in its transfer to disc. Under Chailly's baton it fizzes and crackles like few other sets – recitatives are dispatched with the assurance of native Italian speakers, and with a genuine feeling for the meaning of the text. Decca's recording is beautifully judged and the set makes a fine modern alternative to the now classic (but cut) 1954 recording under Gavazzeni with Maria Callas.