Composer: Gioacchino Antonio Rossini
Orchestra: Prague Sinfonia
Conductor: Christian Benda
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Size: 0.99 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Guillaume Tell: Overture
02. Eduardo e Cristina, Act I: Overture: Eduardo e Cristina: Overture
03. L’inganno felice (The Happy Deception): Overture: L’inganno felice: Overture
04. La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder): Overture: La scala di seta: Overture
05. Demetrio e Polibio, Act I: Overture: Demetrio e Polibio: Overture
06. Il Signor Bruschino, Act I: Overture: Il Signor Bruschino: Sinfonia
07. Sinfonia in D Major, “Bologna”
08. Sigismondo, Act I: Overture: Sigismondo: Overture
Prague Sinfonia
Christian Benda
Recorded: 2011, 2012
Recording Venue: Produkční dům Vzlet, Prague, Czech Republic
Rossini’s ceaseless wit and invention are best exemplified in his series of operas.
His colourful orchestration and command of both comic and tragic elements can be savoured in this second of four volumes of the complete symphonic overtures. Guillaume Tell, with its overture in four movements, includes a scene for five solo cellos. La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder), one of his most popular pieces, opens with an overture of charm and élan. Volume 1 (8570933) was described by MusicWeb International as “an admirable start to what looks like being a very desirable series”.
Witty and vital, but also darker and rather less well known, Rossini’s overtures cover a wide variety of moods and expressions. This disc includes the perennial favourite La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder), and the witty Guillaume Tell. With little known operatic overtures included, it makes for a finely balanced programme; and whilst the favourites have been multiply recorded, others are very much under represented in the catalogue.