Il barbiere di Siviglia

"First of all, it delights the eye ... The rest of the cast is very strong ... The orchestral playing is very fine and the veteran Italian Nello Santi, Zürich director throughout the 1960s, presides over the musical proceedings like some portly Godfather figure an absolutely sure hand at the helm".

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"As the sun sets on the Veneto and the shadows increase from the edges of the largest opera theatre in the world, the Verona Arena, seating nearly fifteen thousand people, Daniel Oren climbs onto the conductor's podium wearing his trademark yarmulke, and a unique performance of Rossini's buffo masterpiece gets underway ... In the case of this filmed performance ... the director has the benefit of consummate actors, often of more mature years than is normally the case, who know the work intimately and are able to realise his dream. The first among equals is Leo Nucci as the irrepressible Figaro. In his seventy sixth year, no less, he can still sing the role with vocal strength and even reprise his opening Largo al factotum ... The other septuagenarian is Basilio, the singing teacher, a role taken by veteran Ferruccio Furlanetto. Always impressive of stature and unforgettable to many ... Daniel Oren, a regular on the Verona podium, conducts the work with obvious affection and also facilitates the soloists in realising their individual vocal perceptions and strengths ... The fifteen thousand spectators at this performance could only go home happy with their experience, which the listener and watcher of this film shares".

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"This bicentennial production by Elisabeth Arden ... follows the prevailing fashion for updating the action without revealing any particular new insights ... The set is indeterminate as to period, often semi-abstract and leaving little impression ... Björn Bürge's Figaro ... gives, with his light and flexible baritone, a well-acted and well-sung interpretation ... Danielle de Niese ... certainly has stage appeal, as is evident whenever she is on stage - despite her vocal limitations".

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"This sparkling all Spanish production of Rossini's perennial stage work gave me as much pleasure as much pleasure as any opera DVD I have watched in recent months. Without doubt, every detail was meticulously prepared and the end result is a wonderful evening's entertainment of the first degree. The singers are superb, but surely the star of the show is Juan Diego Flórez".

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"Rossinis barber ... med den fornemme tenorgreve Juan Diego Flórez og den dejlige Joyce DiDonato? Det specielle er, at hun netop havde forstuvet foden og måtte sidde forestillingen igennem. Det gør nu ingenting".

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"Er der noget man kan på disse kanter, er det netop den lidenskabsfulde og flammende syngemåde, der er så karakteristisk for Rossini, og som udløses vildt og heftigt næsten med vejtrækningsbesvær til følge, altså på sangernes vegne. Juan Diego Flores er nok mere tenor end noget som helst andet her i verden, men kan man bruge ham i Madrid-operaen, kan man vel også herhjemme på dvd-afspilleren, også selvom "Barberen i Sevilla" fordrer lidt mere end en tenor".

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"Her er Barberen i Sevilla med vor tids store Rossini-tenor Juan Diego Flórez, som herhjemme har sunget med Radiosymfoniorkestret i København og Århus. Scenisk er han ikke noget specielt, og alligevel spiller han så naturligt på en scene, at hans fremtoning korresponderer med hans stilistisk elegante sang. En ekstra fornøjelse er, at den charmerende Maria Bayo lever op til ham som Rosina ... Alt i alt er det en let og charmerende opførelse med to fremragende sangere".

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"The great Italian baritone Leo Nucci is one of music's indestructibles. How else can one explain a 76-year-old holding spellbound the vast audience in the Verona Arena with a rendering of Figaro's entrance aria of rare skill and vocal relish? ... There is no hint of Nucci running out of steam as the evening unfolds ... The other veteran performer is the 70-year-old Ferruccio Furlanetto. He delivers the goods as a splendidly saturnine Don Basilio ... Korchak confirms his position as one of the best of today's Almavivas, while Nino Machaidze is a pleasingly aggregable (and, where necessary, pleasingly disagreeable) Rosina. Indeed, it's luxury casting throughout ... Oren, an old Verona hand, directs with pace and purpose, while allowing the score to dance and sing in a way that's rarely heard nowadays ... But Nucci's Figaro is something for the archives".

"Editor's choice: Given that Pelly works with players of quality, while ensuring that the production's every detail is of a piece with itself, it's not surprising that this is a wonderfully well-acted Il barbiere ... The final salute, however, must go to Jérémie Rhorer and the period instrumentalists of his Le Cercle de l'Harmonie ... This, by any measure, is premier cru conducting ... My, what skills are on display in every department of this astonishing production!".

"Der Rossini ist ein reuelos genossenes, buntes Sorbetto, das Annabel Arden fehlerlos, aber auch wenig deutungswillig abschnurren lässt. Danielle de Niese ist eine koloraturvergnügte Rosina, Alessandro Corbelli ihr komödienerprobter Vormund. Der in Frankfurt engagierte Bariton Björn Bürger macht als Figaro bella figura".

"Vocally de Niese is a decent Rosina, for all that her acting doesn't wear well on the small screen ... Björn Bürger ... is probably a Don Giovanni to die for but he's no Figaro ... Despite conceding that the opera's style is classical in essence, Arden show scant regard for the comic realism that is key to Beaumarchais's method, and to Rossini's".

"Die Inszenierung des routinierten Duos Leiser und Caurier sieht in ihrem Mix aus Bretterbuden-Commedia dell'Arte und durch die Kleiderepochen rotierenden Kostümen intellektueller aus, els sie ist ... Juan Diego Flórez variiert seinen längst klassischen Almaviva als singenden Sonnyboy".

Vurdering (Szene): 3/5.

Vurdering (Musik): 4/5.