This is a classic set of Il barbiere di Siviglia and it is a great delight and solace that it stays in general circulation, now remastered for LP. But why only LP, one wonders? This is a set which merits reissue in the less fallible and more permanent format of Compact Disc.
The cast is one of the finest ever assembled for the work. Bruscantini is an outstanding Figaro, Alva an accomplished Almaviva, and los Angeles a most affecting Rosina, the perfect foil to callas's vibrantly shrewish creation (EMI EX29 1093-3; CD CDS7 47634-8, 6/87) which is also a necessary acquisition for all Rossinians.
It is also important—the more so now that Glyndebourne appears to have largely turned its back on Rossini—to have a memento of the Glyndebourne Rossini style at its very finest. Gui, to whom the Fondazione Rossini rightly devoted an entire issue of its Bolletino in 1985, was a Rossini conductor of impeccable pedigree and although his reading does not underline the comic radicalism of the score, its unflagging musicality allows us to appreciate the nature of Rossini's creative achievement and the extent of his challenge to the prevailing operatic status quo. The set also reminds us of the virtues of recording a theatre performance, finely honed by an expert team of players and singers led by the highly experienced producer, Peter Ebert and the late Jani Strasser, whose standards of musical preparation were second to none. Sets like this commemorate a tradition which spared no effort to achieve the highest possible level of excellence in the basics: diction, intonation, rhythm.
There is a full synopsis with the new LPs, which pack the performance economically on to four sides, but no libretto. My pressings also suffered from rather a lot of judders and plops: even more reason for requesting a CD version.'