This is a capable but unexciting recording of
Rossini's one-act farce Il signor Bruschino. The opera itself is not the composer's strongest work, forever upstaged by its notorious overture, in which the violins tap rhythmically on their music stands with the backs of their bows -- an eyebrow-raising gag in its day. Nevertheless, the piece is undeniably charming. But, as is always the case with
Rossini, that charm relies on the performers' ability to find the fun in the music -- to turn the composer's challenging and often busy score into the smile-inducing bon bon it was meant to be. In this case,
Claudio Desderi,
I Virtuosi Italiani, and a cast led by Alessandro Codeluppi and Elena Rossi, don't quite get there. The magic is missing, both in the orchestra and the singing, leaving the composer's gestures sounding more stock, more "average," than they really should. The tempos occasionally feel too moderate, the articulations too homogeneous, and the characterizations too flat. Not always -- the trio "Per un figlio già pentito," for instance, really works up a head of steam -- but often enough. In the end this has to be considered a decent recording, and the only one of the opera likely to be readily available. But it isn't nearly as fun as it should be, and that's a shame.