ROSSINI

La Pietra del Paragone

 

DVD 1

Act 1

1. Sinfonia

2   – 14. Scenes 1 – 14

Act 2

 

DVD 2

Interviews of Jean-Christophe Spinosi & Pierrick Sorin

Video self-portrait of Pierrick Sorin

Audio track adapted for partially-sighted people

15 – 23.            Scenes 1 – 19

 

Sonia Prina: Marchesina Clarice       

Jennifer Holloway: Baronessa Aspasia     

Laura Giordano: Donna Fulvia

Christian Senn: Pacuvio                  

François Lis: Conte Asdrubale                 

José Manuel Zapata: Giocondo

Joan Martín-Royo: Conte Macrobio           

Filippo Polinelli: Fabrizio

 

Ensemble Matheus / Jean-Christophe Spinosi

Chorus of the Teatro Regio di Parma / Philippe Béziat

Giorgio Barberio Corsetti & Pierrick Sorin - Staging, scenography & video

 

Rossini’s opera “La Pietra del Paragone was performed at the Théâtre du Châtelet, in Paris, in January 2007, and in Parma, in December 2006, and these performances which were staged by Pierrick Sorin, one of the most acclaimed directors of his generation, were greeted with universal acclaim. The performances in Paris were captured on film and have now been edited for release for the first time on DVD.

 

‘La pietra del paragone’ is seventh in the Rossini oeuvre and one of no fewer than six of his operas that had their first performance in 1812 when the composer was a mere twenty years old. Despite its reputation amongst Rossini enthusiasts and scholars, ‘La pietra del paragone’ has fared poorly in the theatre and on record. The improbable, not to say convoluted plot, involves the affluent Count Asdrubale who wants a wife who will love him for himself not his status or wealth. He is pursued by three widows and constructs a plot to be seen to be bankrupt which enables him to ascertain that it is only Clarice of the three who really loves him. She in turn tests the Count by disguising herself as her own twin brother and threatening to remove Clarice. Needless to say all ends happily

Jean-Christophe Spinosi performs with his Ensemble Matheus in the foremost festivals and theatres in France (Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra de Paris, and in the key European centres (Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, London, Brussels, etc.).

 

He conducted the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at the opening weekend of the Edinburgh Festival this year in a concert version of Vivaldi’s Orlando furioso which will be broadcast by the BBC In 2008, and has just been voted ‘Best operatic conductor of 2007’ by the Académie du Disque Lyrique. His recording “Orlando Furioso” recently won a BBC Music Magazine award.

 

Plus 88 page limited edition book

 

Naïve 2DVDs V5089