Rossini: L'Italiana in Algeri

A staggeringly fine cast makes this recording indispensable, above all the Isabella of Marilyn Horne. The conducting lacks fire and wit, but not disablingly. Michael Tanner

Our rating

Michael Tanner

Published: January 20, 2012 at 4:32 pm

COMPOSERS: Rossini
LABELS: Warner
WORKS: L'Italiana in Algeri
PERFORMER: Samuel Ramey, Kathleen Battle; Prague Philharmonic Choir; I Solisti Veneti/Claudio Scimone
CATALOGUE NO: 2564 68333-9

A staggeringly fine cast makes this recording indispensable, above all the Isabella of Marilyn Horne. The conducting lacks fire and wit, but not disablingly. Michael Tanner

Michael Tanner

Journalist and Critic, BBC Music Magazine

Michael Tanner is a critic for BBC Music Magazine and the opera critic of The Spectator. He is now a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, having lectured in the Philosophy faculty at the University of Cambridge for 36 years. In 2010, he released The Faber Pocket Guide to Wagner.