10 VII

Recorded by the Vienna State Opera (Wiener Staatsoper) 2021

2 hr. 50 min.

Directed by Herbert Fritsch
Conductor – Michele Mariotti

Cast: Juan Diego Flórez – Count Almaviva, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya – Rosina, Etienne Dupuis – Figaro, Ildar Abdrazakov – Basillio, Paolo Bordogna – Doctor Bartolo.
Orchestra and Chorus of the Vienna State Opera (Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, Chor der Wiener Staatsoper).

This is one of the most famous comic operas or buffa if you prefer. Good fun guaranteed! A rousing overture that has entered pop culture, showpiece arias and duets that audiences look forward to. We know them well, because regardless of the opera, they live their own concert life. The greatest singers include them in their recitals. Just to mention the Aria of Rumor. What more could one want? Excellent performers!

In this staging such are. First of all, Juan Diego Flórez – one of the best, if not the best lyric tenor of his generation. (Regular attendees of our festival will surely remember the screening of Bésame mucho, which was a recording of Juan Diego’s recital of Latin American repertoire; he also delighted us then with his non-opera voice.)
Tall, handsome bass Ildar Abdrazakov, who half-jokingly, half-seriously tells journalists that his ancestor on his mother’s side was Genghis Khan, and on his father’s side – Tamerlan, is sure to delight us with his interpretation of Gossip.

Bavarian-born Herbert Fritsch – a director, set designer and media artist also with a past as an actor and the role of Hamlet to his credit – has created a highly colorful, slapstick staging. Those who decide to come to the Gardens that day – will not regret it.