Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro - Muti (1987) torrent

A lesser known Figaro from Riccardo Muti. This was (to my knowledge) the first Figaro recorded by an Italian conductor since the Giulini from 1961.

Also on EMI, this set differs from Giulini\'s in a few points: The cast is much more international, and as a result, the recitative dialogue isn\'t quite as quicksilver as on the earlier set - we do, however get a nice fortepiano accompagniment. Even though a lot of the cast is Mozart and indeed Figaro veterans, this performance doesn\'t really take flight in the same way as in 1961. They seem more unevenly matched, but it is the only set I know of, that documents Thomas Allen as Figaro.

The singing is nice enough, but being an ensemble opera - second only to Cosí in Mozart\'s output - this really need to be a team effort. The orchestra however is warm and pleasant. Vienna\'s long standing relationship with Mozart combined with Muti\'s alert conducting is really nice.

Sorry... No scans!

Personnel:
Il Conte: Jorma Hynninen
La Contessa: Margaret Price
Susanna: Kathleen Battle
Figaro: Thomas Allen
Cherubino: Ann Murray
Bartolo: Kurt Rydl
Marcellina: Mariana Nicolesco
Don Basilio: Alejandro Ramirez
Don Curzio: Ernesto Gavazzi
Antonio: Franco De Grandis
Barbarina: Patricia Pace

Wiener Staatsopernchor
Wiener Philharmoniker
Riccardo Muti, conductor

NOTE: Unfortunately, I cannot accomodate future seed requests for this torrent, so get it while it\'s hot!