Each year the Rossini Opera Festival celebrates the musical genius of Pesaro’s beloved native son, hosting a summer of singing in the composer’s home town on the Adriatic coast. The four stunning productions in this set span Festival editions from 2011 to 2013 and showcase the full extent of Rossini’s dramatic range. Graham Vick’s production of Mosè in Egitto (2011) is a fresh take on the Biblical tale of oppression, inspiration and freedom, with experienced Rossinian Roberto Abbado in the pit and eloquent singing from Sonia Ganassi and Alex Esposito. Rossini turns again to the Old Testament for inspiration, writing what would be his longest-ever contralto part for the title role of Ciro in Babilonia (2012), ideally suited and skilfully taken by great Rossini singer Ewa Podleś. History then gives way to histrionics and the composer’s light-hearted one act operatic farce Il signor Bruschino (2012), transported in a ‘clever production’ (New York Times) by innovative theatre company Teatro Sotterraneo to a modern-day theme park, where a case of mistaken identities is brought to riotous pitch by Rossini’s forward-thinking comedic effects. Musical refinement and madcap invention combine in L’Italiana in Algeri (2013), the sparkling buffa that was an early triumph for Rossini and drove Richard Strauss ‘mad with enthusiasm’. Davide Livermore’s exuberant, swinging 60s-based production features agile-voiced Anna Goryachova (‘an ideal performer, both as a singer and actor’ – Online Musik Magazin) and Alex Esposito (‘a robust and authoritative voice of supreme quality’ – Operaclick) in the story of one girl’s fearless determination to rescue her captive lover from the evil clutches of the Bey of Algiers.

Mosè in Egitto
- Mosè: Riccardo Zanellato
- Faraone: Alex Esposito
- Osiride: Dmitry Korchak
Conductor: Roberto Abbado
Director: Graham Vick

Ciro in Babilonia
- Ciro: Ewa Podleś
- Amira: Jessica Pratt
- Baldassare: Michael Spyres
Conductor: Will Crutchfield
Director: Davide Livermore

Il signor Bruschino
- Bruschino senior: Roberto De Candia
- Gaudenzio: Carlo Lepore
- Sofia: Maria Aleida
Conductor: Daniele Rustioni
Director: Teatro Sotterraneo

L’italiana in Algeri
- Isabella: Anna Goryachova
- Mustafà: Alex Esposito
- Lindoro: Yijie Shi
- Taddeo: Mario Cassi
Conductor: José Ramón Encinar
Director: Davide Livermore

Running time: 542 minutes
Subtitles: EN/FR/DE (all operas) + KO (L’italiana in Algeri) + JP & KO (Ciro in Babilonia / Il signor Bruschino)
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Sound: Dolby Digital/DTS Surround (Mosè in Egitto / Ciro in Babilonia / L’italiana in Algeri); LPCM 2.0/DTS Surround (Il signor Bruschino); LPCM 2.0/DTS Master Audio (all)