Giacchiono Rossini

* Il Barbiere di Siviglia - Melodramma Buffa in 2 Acts

Victoria de los Angeles (Rosina), Luigi Alva (Figaro),
Seste Bruscantini (Conte Almaviva), Carlo Cava (Bartolo),
Duncan Robertson, Ian Wallace, Laura Sarti
Glydebourne Festival Chorus
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London/Vittorio Gui

EMI Angel Classics #67765B [2CD]

Summary for the busy executive: "Ah che bella vita!"

Born the year after Mozarts death, Rossini was called "Emperor of
European Music", and as an emperor he lived.  He had houses in Italy, in
Paris and in the French county.  He ruled Paris for years, and allowed
lesser shining stars audience, held court, and expressed opinion about that
or that.  A 19th century prince, hailed and corpulent as the glutton he
was.  Many considered Rossini to be Europes best composer, not the greatest
operacomposer, but the greatest of all.  Nobody knew of anybody who could
challenge him in writing ouvertures.  Not older then nearly 24 year old he
composed the masterpiece of all operas; The Barber of Seville, of course.
It is easygoing and happy all through.  Stofiles and bores don't need to
take the trouble.  Neither do snobby intellectuals.  It is not a question
of sens moral or deep symbols.

There are so many people who just poured good words about Rossini and his
music.  Verdis publisher, Giulio Ricordi, who also published a great deal
of Rossinis, Bellinis and Donizettis operas, called Rossini "Imperator
Musicae".  Alfred Einstein was not right so praising when he, in the
beginning of the 20th Century, wrote about "Rossini, and his monkeys
superficial and sensual melodies", but he still hailed "Il Barbiere" as
a masterwork in the genre.  Einstein used the word "superficial" about
Rossinis melodies, but he also called them "entchanting".

Anno 1892 the centennial upon Rossinis birth was celebrated one afternoon
in Crystal Palace with a performance of the ouvertures to "Le Siege de
Corinte", "La gazza Ladra", "Semiramide" and "Wilhelm Tell", and the in
the musicworld so ubiquitous George Bernhard Shaw was of course there....
As one could expect, Rossini wasn't "deep" enough for the literate and
inbribable Shaw, but even he was that afternoon to capitulate to Rossinis
"superficial" and "entchanting" melodies.  "We were stimulated and had
great fun", he wrote in his review, "and I was surprised that everything
still was so fresh, impressing, spiritual, and simply masterful in the few
serious passages.  I felt, not with a slight fear, that as the concert went
on, more and more nails loosened from Rossinis coffin.  And if I had sat a
little closer to the podium, I might have grabbed the conductor Mann's arm
and shouted: 'You don't know what you are doing!  In ten minutes you have
called this evil genius to life again!'".

Rossini was probably one of the greatest natural musical talents who
ever put pen to paper, and everything fell so completely easy out for him.
Most certainly he was also happily inspired, then at age of 15 he started
to study at the conservatory of Bologna, and there he met a Spanish soprano
who had been employed by the King of Napoli-Sicily as primary soprano at
the oper.  Rossini fell at once for her beauty, good nature, and as
musician he was, for her very beautiful and clear sopranovice.  He married
her, got his first employment on good conditions in Napoli, and started
writing opera seria (then Rossini actually had a great wish to write great
oepra seria as well) with great arias specially suited to her voice.  That
"Il Barbiere di Siviglia" was the opera that made Rossini famous, is a
common misunderstanding.  Between age of 21 and 24 (when he composed "Il
Barbiere"), he had already won great acclaim with opera like; "L'Inganno
Felice" (Venezia 1812), "Tancredi" (Venezia 1813), "The Italian in Alger"
(Venezia 1813), "Il Turco in Italia" (Milano 1814), "Elisabetta, regina
d'Ingilterra" (Napoli 1815), and then the Barber 1816.  For these, and the
9 masterworks and close to 40 other operas he had yet to compose, all are
characterized by;

* Beatiful Ouvertures
* More work for the orchestra than was usual in Italy but never so much
that it overpowers the singers
* Lagre and many ensemlble-numbers
* Much work for alts and mezzos
* Long melodylines, seemingly "shaked out of the sleeve", without any problem

So, Rossini was considered the master of the Opera Buffa, and highly
thought of as composer of Opera Seria, especially in fact, in the middle
of the 19th century where his music was discussed as an "ideal" in the
Wagnerian-Brahmsian onslaught.  Also in the time he was most appreciated
generally, there were those - especially some Germans - who didn't praise
him quite so extravagantly.  When the discussiontopic of Immortality once
came up, Rossini showed himself to be more realistic, and commented his
suggested own with: "My immortality? Do you know what will survive me? The
second act of "Othello", the third act of "Wilhelm Tell"...and "Il Barbiere
di Siviglia", as great it is".  Today, more then 200 years after his birth,
this "evil genius" is still freely floating around, and in fact in highest
prosperity.  His ouvertures are especially highly ranked, although they no
longer are mentioned as likes of those of Mozart, Haydn and Schubert.

What is intriguing with Rossini is why this composer, who already as a
youngster in the beginning, had talent enough to lay the world before his
feet, just stopped composing after the great triumph with the premiere of
"Wilhelm Tell" in Paris 1829, and lived the rest of his life without
composing anything at all (with exception for "Petite Misse Solenelle",
which actually is neither small nor solemn, and a Stabat Mater.
Musicologists use to come up with the following theories:

* The Economical Theory: Rossini was already a millionaire, and he didn't
need neither more money nor more work.
* The Palentologial Theory: Rossini was actually a very lazy person. All
fell so easy for him.
* The Patological Theory: He had bad health.
* The Conservativist Theory: Rossini had true created his own great grand
opera with "Wilhelm Tell", but he lamented the development towards this
style in favour of his own Opera Buffa.
* The Megalomanic Theory: He loved to be "Imperator Musicae" and took no
risks to loose his honorary epitet from becoming obsolete before his
expiration.
* The Gay-Dog Theory: He wanted to spend all his time with "Wein, Weib und
Gesang" (But, probably more accurately; with Frass instead of Gesang).
* The Ideological Theory: He had said all he wanted to say with the last
scene of "Wilhelm Tell".
* The Combinatory Theory: All above theories.

Rossini is from eyewithnesses reported to have said things like that
when he senced the seed for the music of the future the young Wagner,
he knew that he was luckily born into a time where excatly the music he
was born for was popular, he was insightsful enough to realize that he
couldn't change himself, and he was smart enough to realize that time will
uncompromisingly go on, he not with it, and if he retired when he still was
emperor he would for all time remain an emperor.  Since long not composing,
but still hailed, he expired in Passy outside Paris in 1868.  That year
Richard der Zweite was four years old, and Richard der Einzige premiered
"Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg".

When I listen to "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" I just melt away of pure
happiness, and with hearing this recording, as I think it was remarkably
well done.  The ouverture is vividly played, and gives a first impression
of high ambition, securely marked rythms, never becoming mathematically
precise, always with the leading melody kept cantilene.  Fiorello is the
first singer to enter, which he does, singing about when he played piano,
and then the choir sets in.  This actually intrigued me alot when I noticed
it.  The thing is that most of people who have heard, might describe
Rossini so that he was a pure classicist who studied the classcist craft,
and as what Haendel did with opera in the 18th century, Rossini did in the
beginning of his century when he collected all the classicist features and
melted them together in a beautiful final essence, most namely in just "Il
Barbiere di Siviglia".  This seems to many a so given fact, that the
element of Romanticism in Rossini too often isn't noticed at all.  In
"Wilhelm Tell" some characteristica that many would be ready to recognize
as Romantic appear, at least more so then Classicist.  That can be things
like that the story (rarely enough) is taken from the Medieval Time and not
the Ancient Time, there are great grandios effects which even draws the
thought to Berlioz, the thunderstorm on Vierwaldstaettersee is unmistakenly
Romantic in expression, and also the orchestration.  After 56 performances
in original version, however "Wilhelm Tell" large parts of the opera were
cut out, and they way we now here it is not closely so much reminding of
Berlioz as the original version.  It should be interesting to anyone with
interest in music history to hear "Rossini in Berlioz fur" at least as
curiousa, but perhaps still Rossini himself would have been happy with this
cuttings as he could safely remain the master of Classicist opera, which
might have been his true nature.  And that German Romantics like for
example Heinrich Marschner, in a good time later opera the German
Arch-Romantics almost fainted upon hearing (i.e.  Der Vampyr), not yet had
upgraded the classicist feature with spoken dialogue to the more Romantic
sung recitative, what the born classicist Rossini did in "Wilhelm Tell",
stands as a quirk of history.  In "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" then, Rossini
already has some Romantics tendences, like going away from the strict
classicist sheme for introduction of an opera with
Ouverture-Chorus-Recitativo-Aria.  Generally though, and also appearing in
later operas Rossini stays in the sheme.  First Verdi seriously moved away
from it, and in Verdis late operas there are very few or no traces of it.
And in Puccini it is defenitely gone.  But interesting after all is that
Rossini actually didn't label this opera "Opera Buffa" but wrote
"Melodramma Buffa" on the titlesheet.

The young Count Almaviva saw the beautiful lady Rosina in Madrid, and
seeked her up in Seville.  He had been hit by one of those happenings
which is the mystery of life; he fell in love at once for her beauty
and good nature.  Seste Bruscantini don't actually play the lute, but
his interpretation of Count Almavivas Erfuerchtende passion is stunning
Heldentenorsong right from the heart in the "Ecco ridente in cielo"-Aria.
This time the balcon remains empty though.  Instead, and luckily, this
storys eqvivalent of Hans Sachs appears (but on the street, not the
balcon), and presents himself as being Sevilles own Figaro, adding a
little pride for himself being a man who can solve all situations
skillfully and wise; "Make way for the citys factotum, the thousandarist.
I am happy, and a competent barber with my talents has much to enjoy with.
All ask for me".  The aria "Ah che bella vita" in fact bein one of the
operalitteratures most appreciated and sought for high baritones.  Luigi
Alva doing it just excellent with his voice in perfect pitch locus.
In technique Rossini now is classicist again however.  It is commonly
understood that Mozart was Rossinis ideal and his subject for study.
In many operas however Rossini let the orchestra play a melody straight
through, before the singer enters, to make the audience used to the music.
Here Rossini is actually taking up an element from Haydn, which Mozart
never used.  He also differs from Mozart in the way that he never reaches
up to the same level of getting his persons so natural, as would be in the
comparision of the counts in "Il barbiere" and "Figaros Hochzeit".  Yet a
feature pointing towards the development in direction Romanticism in opera
is a contribution from Rossini, namely the use of Barytons and Basses, what
made the Ensemble possible.

Almaviva is warned that she is carefully under attention by her patron,
an old and pennywise Doctor Bartolo, who himself plans to marry Rosina
to be able to benefit from her fortune and status.  Rosinas appearance
and her famous coloraturaria "Una voce poco fa", in which she reveals her
love for Lindoro, as Almaviva calls himself, is sung so absolutely full of
compassion, so the rest of the cast bleakens in comparision.  With Victoria
de Los Angeles in this role that would actually also be hard to imagine
being otherwise.  Rosina writes a letter to Lindoro, which Figaro shall
deliver.  Bartolo comes home, and Figaro hides, to hear him being jealous
and suspicious upon Lindoro/Almaviva.  When it comes to Romanticism as
feature of expression, Rossinis music to Bartolos hate-Aria "La Calunnia e
un venticello" appears as Romantic as when Mozart was as Romantic he ever
was, like in the Ghostmusic in "Don Giovanni".  The Aria painfully sung,
expressing fear for loosing a beloved.  "A un dottor della mia sorte" is
then sung firmly and convincingly.  Follows a passage in which the music
really is buffa in as much major buffa Rossini ever can be, when the count
played a drunk soldier in an attempt to get into Bartolos house.  But as
a Doctor Bartolo is not bound by the inquartery law, and kicks him out.
Seste Bruscantini fools around as tenore buffa as well as he was a lyric
Werther.

Act II then goes on as people use to know it: Almaviva tries to play
assistating songteacher instead of Don Basilio who is said to have cought
a cold ("Pace e gioia sia con voi"), and to fool Bartolo he talkes bad
about Almaviva.  Rosina recognizes Lindorno in the new songteacher and
of course agrees to lessons.  Meanwhile Figaro razors Bartolo, but is
disturbed by Don Basilio, whom to his own surprise get to know that he has
taken ill.  However, as a semi-classicist schablon, Almaviva appears like
a Deus ex Machina and bribes him to play the game.  How Almaviva can be as
busy as he likely would be teaching song, appearing at the right moment
outside the barbers, and when Bartolo goes therefrom be songteaching again,
is a bit of that kind of irrationality that is a part of the buffa humour.
The Escape Terzette that occurs in this section is sustained and also
rather Romantic in expression for being Rossini, decently catched by the
three singers, before Bartolo hears their talk and nearly catches Almaviva
and Figaro before they imaginary turn into an escaping duo.  Bartolo
understands that here is a hurry, and he shows Rosina her own ticket
which shall prove that the singteacher knew Almaviva.  She agrees to
marry Bartolo, who send after the notarius publicus and matrimonial
contract.  Under a great thunderstorm, Almaviva and Figaro succeed to
break into Bartolos house, but Rosina don't want Lindoro as she belives
he will sell her to the evil Count Almaviva.  Then he reveals they are one
and the same person, and she is happily surprised.  The scrivener arrives
with the contract, and they sign with Don Basilio and Figaro as withnesses.
In the next second Bartolo storms in with some soldiers only to realize
that the battle is lost.  As a All-Happy-End worthy of Meistersinger
Bartolo finds some comfort in that he can keep the dowry he discovers he
should have had to give as patron, then Almaviva has found his love and
don't care for anything else.  The chorus break out in joy singing that
everything is transient, and only Love persists.

In all a decent buffa as when the Swan from Pesaro did his best,
performed with brilliance.  Victoria de Los Angeles is the greatest voice
by far unsurpassed in a compassion that really melts the heart, the other
also singing lively and with joy of life, as does the choir.  The RPO plays
brilliantly under the secure command of Vittorio Gui.  When listening to
such joyful music making as this, one has to agree that Rossini was the
very essence of Italian opera, and is the alternative a great hit like
Gabriele Santinis recording of Puccinis "Madama Butterfly", I prefer this
one any time.

Mats Norrman
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