Rossini was 24 years old when he wrote his seventeenth opera and most renowned "buffa", The Barber of Seville, in barely three weeks. This recording is from the 1988 Schwetzinger Festspiele.

Michael Hampe's staging of Il barbiere di Siviglia, produced while he was in charge of Cologne Opera, is witty and fast-flowing. Speed is the key - and in doing away with alienating effects, the dramatic tension between characters on stage can be wound ever higher.

The orchestra gives a most sensitive and flexible account of Rossini's score. Gabriele Ferro knows the art of subtle differentiation and strikes a happy balance in the dialogue between orchestra and singers.

The soloists, too, are first rate - in particular, the irresistible coloratura brilliance of Cecilia Bartoli.

Cecilia Bartoli is best known for her interpretations of the music of Bellini, Mozart and Rossini. In this production of her early career she undertook the role of Rosina and earned rave reviews. Cecilia Bartoli is winner of the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance and recipient of the Herbert von Karajan Music Prize.

Recorded at the beautiful Rococo theatre Schwetzingen

DVD Picture: 4:3 – NTSC
DVD Sound: PCM Stereo, DTS 5.1
Language/subtitles: Italian/English, German, French, Spanish
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 158 mins
Production Year: 1988