Gioacchino Rossini: La Scala di Seta

Schwetzingen is a tiny town near Heidelberg which has a famous palace with magnificent gardens, not unlike those at Versailles. The Schwetzingen Festival is held every Spring in the palace and commissions a small-scale opera for the palace's exquisite Rococo theatre, built in 1752. La scala di seta is one of the five one-act operas - farsa giocosa - in which the teenage Rossini first demonstrated his operatic genius. This sparkling production continues the Rossini one-act opera series emerging from the Schwetzingen Festival. It was realised to perfection in the small, jewel-like Rococo Theatre of Schwetzingen Palace. The stage is small and the production transfers to the small screen perfectly. “… and it is safe to say that these performances set a standard that would be hard to surpass - visually they are a delight. Luciana Serra as Giulia meets the coloratura demands easily, Alessandro Corbelli plays the role of Germano to the hilt. But possibly the best moments of the opera are the ensembles, razor-edged in precision and bubbling with vitality.” OPERA NEWS