Home listening - sensational Semiramide and pre-teen Mozart

The Guardian 0

A dazzling cast, Mark Elder and the OAE join forces in epic Rossini, while Classical Opera and the Mozartists have fun with Bastien and Bastienne

• It’s taken two years, but Opera Rara’s five-star recording of Rossini’s epic Babylonian opera Semiramide is released at last. Keen radio listeners may remember a sensational performance at the Proms in September 2016, when Mark Elder and his cast, fresh from making this recording, knocked the audience flat with a bravura display of spectacular bel canto singing. Now it’s possible to listen again to Albina Shagimuratova in the hugely challenging title role and Daniela Barcellona as the warrior Arsace, both singers at the top of their game.

But be warned. This piece requires serious commitment. Elder has restored all the passages normally cut in modern performances, making the whole thing cover four CDs. It’s worth parcelling it out to really appreciate the quality of the dazzling singing from a classy cast that also includes Mirco Palazzi, Barry Banks and David Butt Philip. And there is wonderfully crisp and alert playing from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.