Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868)
Moïse en Égypte (Mosè in Egitto), opéra en 4 actes
L'Echelle de soie (La scala di seta), opéra en 1 acte
Ciro in Babilonia (Cyrus à Babylone), drame lyrique en 2 actes
Il signor Bruschino, opéra comique en 1 acte
L'Italienne à Alger (L'Italiana in Algeri), opéra-bouffe en 2 actes

Riccardo Zanellato
Alex Esposito
Sonia Ganassi
Dmitry Korchak
Chœur et orchestre du Teatro Communale di Bologna
Roberto Abbado, direction
Graham Vick, mise en scène
(Moïse en Égypte)

Michael Spyres
Ewa Podles
Jessica Pratt
Carmen Romeu
Mirco Palazzi
Robert McPherson
Raffaele Costantini
Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Will Crutchfield, direction
Davide Livermore, mise en scène
(Ciro in Babilonia)

Roberto De Candia
Carlo Lepore
Maria Aleida
David Alegret
Andrea Vincenzo Bonsignore
Chiara Amarù
Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini
Daniele Rustioni, direction
Teatro Sotteraneo, mise en scène
(Il signor Bruschino)

Anna Goryachova
Alex Esposito
Yijie Shi
Mario Cassi
Orchestre et Chœur du Teatro Comunale di Bologna
José Ramon Encinar, direction
Davide Livermore, mise en scène
(L'Italienne à Alger)

Each year the Rossini Opera Festival celebrates the musical genius of Pesaro’s beloved native son, hosting a summer of singing in the composer’s home town on the Adriatic coast. The five stunning productions in this set span Festival editions from 2009 to 2013 and showcase the full extent of Rossini’s dramatic range. Graham Vick’s production of Mosè in Egitto (2011) is a fresh take on the Biblical tale of oppression, inspiration and freedom, with experienced Rossinian Roberto Abbado in the pit and eloquent singing from Sonia Ganassi and Alex Esposito, while the sparkling La scala di seta (2009) weaves a burlesque tale of gentlemen using a silken ladder to access the bedchamber of a certain Giulia, sung with ‘wonderful suppleness’ (Opernwelt) by Olga Peretyatko. Rossini turns again to the Old Testament for inspiration, writing what would be his longest-ever contralto part for the title role of Ciro in Babilonia (2012), ideally suited and skilfully taken by great Rossini singer Ewa Podles. History then gives way to histrionics and the composer’s light-hearted one act operatic farce Il signor Bruschino (2012), transported in a ‘clever production’ (New York Times) by innovative theatre company Teatro Sotterraneo to a modern-day theme park, where a case of mistaken identities is brought to riotous pitch by Rossini’s forward-thinking comedic effects. Musical refinement and madcap invention combine in L’Italiana in Algeri (2013), the sparkling buffa that was an early triumph for Rossini and drove Richard Strauss ‘mad with enthusiasm’. Davide Livermore’s exuberant, Swinging 60s-based production features agile-voiced Anna Goryachova (‘an ideal performer, both as a singer and actor’ – Online Musik Magazin) and Alex Esposito (‘a robust and authoritative voice of supreme quality’ – Operaclick) in the story of one girl’s fearless determination to rescue her captive lover from the evil clutches of the Bey of Algiers.