Rossini - Der Barbier von Sevilla (Il Barbiere di Siviglia/The Barber of Seville) - 1959, Prey & WunderlichTV-Rip to DVD5 - PAL - 4:3 - Black & White - All Regions - AC3 - 48kHz, 192 Kbps - German - 141 min.
No Subs
Fritz Wunderlich, Max Proebstl, Erika Koth, Hermann Prey, Hans Hotter, Karl Ostertag, Ina Gerhen
Orchestre & Choir der Bayerischen Staatsoper, Cuvilliéstheater, München, Joseph Keilberth
In an era when Sophia Loren acted Aida while Renata Tebaldi sang it, this television production of Rossini's Barber of Seville was a rarity. Not using the playback method in which actors or singers mime to a prerecorded track, this 1959 production of the Bavarian State Opera was broadcast live on Christmas Day and recorded for television by Bayerischer Rundfunk. It is the superb cast, especially the appearance of the tenor Fritz Wunderlich, that makes it such an estimable historical document.
Filmed in black and white, recorded in mono and sung in German
Wunderlich sings Count Almaviva superbly, negotiating this difficult tenore di grazia role with relative ease. His Italianate lyric tenor voice, almost Schipa-like in it's clarity, is beautifully present even in this old television recording. His acting is similarly superb, reflecting the intensive lessons he'd had in Stuttgart as a young singer. Videos of Wunderlich in complete operas are a comparative rarity.
