23-year-old Gioachino Rossini completed his masterpiece IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA incredibly quickly – legend has it in just 13 days – which Rossini attributed to ‘facility and lots of instinct’. The opera, characterized by youthful energy and bold wit, has all the ingredients for comic chaos: an imprisoned young woman, her lecherous guardian and a young noble suitor. Skilfully plotting behind the scenes is Figaro, an irrepressible and inventive character in whom many have seen a resemblance to the young Rossini himself. The score fizzes with musical brilliance, from Figaro’s famous entrance aria to the frenzy of the Act I finale. This recording sees Joyce DiDonato (Rosina) bring literal meaning to the old theatrical motto Break a leg! She did just that in an earlier show but was determined to finish her commitment and was re-staged into the production to allow for the additional challenges that come when a leading lady in a lively physical role must wheel around the other performers...

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A colorful and comedic staging of the classic opera buffa by the Vienna State Opera.

1989 recording of the San Francisco Opera production of Mefistofele: Boito's retelling of Goethe's F...

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A musician is offered a job in Vienna as stage director, but his disagreements with the aristocratic...

This telecast offers a rare opportunity to see the legendary Joan Sutherland in the role that first ...

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The writer Dario Fo applies his inventive genius to Rossini's comic opera in its premiere DVD releas...

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A 12-year-old boy tries everything to join a music lovers club.

This is a good video of "Figaro", but there are a couple of better ones available. The Bohm and the ...

All the throbbing eroticism—and ultimate heartbreak—of Puccini’s youthful score is unleashed by Jame...

Who loves whom in Così fan tutte, Mozart’s and Da Ponte’s cruelly comic reflection on desire, fideli...