Recommended Recordings
Compiled by Peter Russell
Generally, recordings of The Barber of Seville that have been made in the recent past (i.e., the last 30 years) make use of a revised orchestral score that is much truer to Rossini's original intentions, reinstating authentic instrumentation and eschewing musical cuts that had become ?traditional? through the late 1960's. These recordings also invariably cast a lyric mezzo-soprano as Rosina, rather than a coloratura soprano, the latter practice another old ?tradition? that is now discredited.
Of recordings that use this authentic musical score, you can't go wrong with the version conducted by Sir Neville Marriner from the ?Compact Opera Collection,? featuring a well-balanced cast, as well as all kinds of CD ROM bells and whistles. There is also a very strong rendition conducted by Will Humburg dating to 1992, and featuring an equally fine?and mostly Italian?cast of principals, which has the further advantage of being on the bargain-budget Naxos label. Also admirable is another recent CD on Teldec conducted by Jesus Lopez-Cobos, with Jennifer Larmore, Raúl Giménez, and Håkan Hagegård in the leads.
Two older recordings made before the existence of the ?critical edition? musical score nonetheless offer a lot of verve and style, both on the EMI label, and both featuring Luigi Alva as Almaviva: the 1957 rendition conducted by Alceo Galliera, which also stars Maria Callas as Rosina and Tito Gobbi as Figaro, and the 1962 version conducted by Vittorio Gui, with Victoria de los Angeles and Sesto Bruscantini in the leads. The latter benefits enormously from having been made in tandem with a run of performances of the opera at England's Glyndebourne Festival, which translates into the recording's bearing more than a whiff of the live stage.
There is no one standout among the several video recordings of Barber that have been made. Of the few that are currently available, a 1992 DVD and VHS tape from the Netherlands Opera features strong work from the entire cast, which is led by three Americans?Jennifer Larmore, Richard Croft, and David Malis (the latter now a resident of Crested Butte)?under the baton of Alberto Zedda. The staging, however, by Italian playwright Dario Fo, errs on the manic side. Various other tapes are worth seeking out in libraries or specialty stores, all on VHS: a staging by John Cox filmed live at the Met in 1989, starring Kathleen Battle, Leo Nucci, and Rockwell Blake, led by Ralf Weikert; an earlier production by Cox on which the Met version was modeled, filmed at the Glyndebourne Festival in 1982; and the 1972 Deutsche Grammophon tape directed and designed by the late Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, which features Claudio Abbado leading the La Scala orchestra and particularly fine performances by Teresa Bergaza as Rosina and Enza Dara as Dr. Bartolo.
Note: Concerning these recommendations for audio and video recordings, especially regarding audio recordings, it is critical to bear in mind that recordings go in and out of print constantly. If a recording is described herein as ?currently out of print,? it may again be available within the coming year, so it is always worthwhile to seek things out.
