Naxos releases DVD of Il barbiere di Siviglia starring a trio of Étude Arts singers

Rossini’s comic masterpiece Il barbiere di Siviglia was based on Beaumarchais’s French play Le Barbier de Séville and is the ultimate opera buffa. The score is a compendium of the composer’s wittiest and most brilliant writing, and includes the famous entrance aria Largo al factotum and a raft of superbly dynamic ensembles. This vibrant and youthful production from the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, directed by Laurent Pelly and led by Jérémie Rhorer, features Florian Sempey, one of the world’s best Figaros, the ‘Rossini tenor’ Michele Angelini, and the buffo theatrics of Peter Kálmán as the grumpy and scheming Bartolo.