Gioachino Rossini: Moïse et Pharaon

Rossini's "Moïse et pharaon" (1827) is the elaborate revision of his "Mosè in Egitto," for the Paris Opéra. When Riccardo Muti came to conduct it for the Teatro alla Scala (at the Teatro degli Arcimboldi) in 2003, he engaged Luca Ronconi as director, with a cast featuring Barbara Frittoli, Sonia Ganassi, Giuseppe Filianoti, Erwin Schrott, and Ildar Abdrazakov.Muti's conducting is electric, of course, and Ronconi's production is fascinating. A great pipe-organ had arisen in the desert and the ancient Hebrews are clothed in the garb of the Jews of later centuries. The Egyptians, rather, come to resemble prelates of the Roman Catholic Church. It is both fascinating and very beautiful. And, as so often, the late director's tableaux are exquisite and his handling of the chorus is ideal. The climax of the work is the Crossing of the Red Sea, and Ronconi is here at his finest: Completely stylized, it is an object lesson to lesser directors with their impoverished theories of realism.The cast is of disparate quality, which makes this long opera seem very long, indeed. Schrott, as the Pharaoh of the title, nevertheless, is brilliant. Boyish, petulant, and supremely arrogant, he is quite the finest of the lot.Aspects of the ballet are interesting, and, in toto, the production is a remarkable achievement. "And he rebuked the Red Sea and it was dried up, and he led them through the waves as through a desert." (Psalm 105).

I knew only Semiramide and Rossini comic operas,which I rated as preferable,as did Beethoven. I did not fetch more a Moses.I just wanted to know ,on stage, Netrebko s affortunated husband. Then I have searched for any opera with Erwin Schrott,who looks like a Brazilian man.'Well, fate brought me to this pharaonic "oratorio",which recalls Israel in Egypt and Aida,since there is an unhappy love between an Egyptian prince and a slave,both smashed by ethnic problems and policy. Of course, musical similarities with either Handel or Verdi are few, except for the common grandeur..Although Rossini has seldom the deeper dignity of Mozart tunes,he is an expert in simple and noble melodies. Here his gallops are a bit more "serious" yet recognizable.Good arias,expressive duos, moving choruses, all nursed by splendid conducting by Muti, bright orchestra, solemn codas and the thrilling sound of TDK recording.By the way,I am not able to see on Amazon advertisings whether a recording is DTS,5.1,PCM 2.0,Dolby 3.2,etc..In times of home theater we deserve to know it clearly likewise we see a Mono recording.There are excelent old 2.0 records,but when we see a DVD supposed to be issued in 2003,we misjudge it for a modern sound,while it can be a hideous remake from 1960. Back to this Rossini Hollywoodian opera-oratorio, I enjoyed very much,although Schrott s role,as the Pharaoh, is less important, as well as he is beside his astonishing Russian wife.If you like Rossini or Cecil B de Mille, buy this Moses. If you don t like them, buy it any way.Flavio J Morsch- Brazil

The prior reviewers have covered many aspects of this work and DVD. It is well worth watching as it has many strong points. The best as far as I am concerned is Ildar Abdrazakov who sings the role of Moise. His voice is beautiful and he sings the role very well. My only complaint is the constant camera movement, particularly the extreme close-ups of the singer's faces. The facial contortions that some singers use to produce of high notes and loud volumes may not be particularly pleasing. Do we need to see them strain and sweat? Do we need to see their tongues and the back of their mouths? A little more distance, in my opinion, would be less distracting from the opera. The close ups also distorted the ballet -- the interaction between dancers on opposite sides of the stage were often missed because the camera was close-up on one or the other. The stage was amazingly large, the set very functional and the chorus amazing. I am not sure that I have ever seen such a large chorus

When I read the reviews and saw the cast I decided to buy this production .I didn’t know this opera, but as it was composed by Rossini I knew it was going to be beautiful.I was familiar with most of the cast from other performances, the only singer that I didn’t know was Giuseppe Filianote who played Amenophis ,I was very impressed with his powerful voice.The music and singing were very beautiful, the duets, ensembles and chorus were wonderful. When I heard the last chorus: “Descleuux ou tu resides” I realized that I knew it and enjoyed it very much.The ballet in Act III with Luciana Savignano (Isis), Roberto Bolle(Moise) and Desmond Richardson(Pharaon) was outstanding. Luciana showed a lot of plasticity and the other two dancers were at the same level as her.The scenery was very good. The last scene: showing Moise and his people fleeing Egypt crossing the Red Sea followed by the Egyptians drowning in the sea was very well done.I liked this opera and found the quality of the dvd outstanding.

This opera by Rossini is strangely like an oratorio. This is the 1827 French version of Moise. Action is scant (or rather, too big for the live stage).The singers generally sing very well; there is simply not a single weak link in the cast. and the conducting is beautifully controlled by Muti.In the title role, Abdrazakov is a capable Moses, if not truly outstanding (there is hardly any 'outstanding' aria for this character); while Ganassi is a very regal Egyptian queen and Schrott, though a tad too young, is also a competent Pharoah.I would not fault Frittoli's Anais. The role is a bit too 'young' for her, though she sings exceedingly well.The one really to steal the show is the then young (not yet 30) tenor Giuseppe Filianoti as the Egyptian prince.Filianoti gives a vocally outstanding and dramatically alert performance, that really explain why today he has become one of the best tenors of his generation.

Rossini's attempts to write French Grand Opera were never really successful and this one is no exception, although it does have fine moments, like the opening of Act 2 as Moses prays for light to be restored to Egypt, a brilliant piece of music drama with atmospheric music and fine ensemble singing.This is a generally excellent performance. The principals are all good, particularly Abdrazakov as Moses and Gannasi as Sinaide. The sets and costumes are traditional but this does make a rather muddled story easier to follow.The recording has a balance problem with orchestra swamping voices in forte passages, although I have noticed similar problems on other Muti recordings. For some reason Muti omits the cantique 'The song of Miriam' at the end of Act 4, leaving a rather downbeat finale.

Excellent recording.Can be recommended!!

La musique et les airs sont très beaux. Le Français est acceptable, il aurait été meilleur avec quelques chanteurs Français. La prise de son aurait pu être meilleur pour moi il y avait un micro de défectueux dans le coin droit de la scène.

Una spettacolare messa in scena e interpreti del massimo livello per la versione originale dell'opera di Rossini, tanto maltrattata e sminuita nella sa versione italiana

Beethoven hat ja Rossini bekanntlich geraten, sich auf die Komposition von komischen Opern zu beschränken. Durch die vorliegende Aufnahme wird die Nachwelt eines Besseren belehrt. Virtuoser Ziergesang taugt nicht nur für Slapstick-Handlungen (Il barbiere di Siviglia, L´italiana in Algeri), sondern kann die auch Dramatik einer Liebesbeziehung vor dem Hintergrund einer biblischen Geschichte passend unterstreichen. Gleichzeitig sind die kolaraturenreichen Melodien natürlich an sich Balsam für die Ohren. Überdies hat der Komponist - in Anpassung an die französchische Operntradition - Ballet-Tableaus in die Handlung integriert, welche in der vorliegenden Aufnahme ebenfalls zu sehen sind (Dauer knapp 20 Minuten). Das Ensemble besteht zum Teil aus der etablierten Creme-de-la-Creme des italienischen Belcanto (Sonia Ganassi, Barbara Frittoli), teils aus interessanten Nachwuchssängern (Giuseppe Filianoti).