Gioachino Rossini - Il barbiere di Siviglia - "Don Basilio! Cosa veggo!" (Bruce Ford, Della Jones, Alan Opie, Andrew Shore & Peter Rose) (in English)

P.S. Do leave a comment on how you would compare the pieces :). Act Two of Rossini's "Il barbiere di Siviglia" features a most wonderful Quintet first as Don Basilio is sent away home by our trio of heros and the still dumbfounded Bartolo and then as the latter himself unravels the plan and sends Figaro and the Count flying out of his house. A justly famous piece, it progresses naturally as a scene, rather than a formal number of any kind; only the concentrated finales of the quintet (the famous "Buona sera! Buona sera!") and the subsequent quartet are what we would call classical ensembles. Just as the finale, the piece is difficult to write about as it is well-known, so let us just pass straight into it. Here is the cast: Figaro - Alan Opie, Il Conte Almaviva - Bruce Ford, Rosina - Della Jones, Dr. Bartolo - Andrew Shore, Don Basilio - Peter Rose. Enjoy :)!

Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as some sacred music, songs, chamber music, and piano pieces. He was a precocious composer of operas, and he made his debut at age 18 with La cambiale di matrimonio. His best-known operas include the Italian comedies The Barber of Seville , The Italian Girl in Algiers, and Cinderella. He also wrote a string of serious operas in Italian, including works such as Tancredi, Otello, and Semiramide. The Thieving Magpie features one of his most celebrated overtures.

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