Aureliano in Palmira

Among composers, Rossini was one of the great recyclers. A few famous numbers from The Barber of Seville (1816)—including the overture—were actually lifted from his Aureliano in Palmira, an unsuccessful opera seria written three years earlier. Long considered unsalvageable because of its supposed inferiority and losses to the score, the piece has been reconstructed by Will Crutchfield, who also conducts this fine 2014 revival at Pesaro's Rossini Opera Festival. The setting is the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra (currently in the global news due to its recent takeover by ISIS), under attack by the Roman Emperor Aurelian. Queen Zenobia tries to defend it, aided by her lover, the Persian prince Arsace. Aurelian wants Zenobia for himself and repeatedly defeats Arsace in battle, but eventually shows clemency and makes Palmyra an ally. The romantic triangle is nonsense historically-speaking, but it works, and Rossini provides a lovely score, which Crutchfield and his orchestra present nimbly, with only an occasional boggle from a brass soloist. Vocally the performance is strong, with Jessica Pratt steering her steely soprano through the coloratura of Zenobia's arias, Michael Spyres projecting a ringing tenor as Aurelian, and Lena Belkina stirring in the trousers role of Arsace. Mario Martone's direction is hampered by spare sets and costumes (and some odd decisions, such as placing the continuo players—cellist and fortepianist—onstage), but overall this is a welcome production of a Rossini rarity that should only enhance its reputation. Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and PCM stereo on Blu-ray, extras include a “making-of” featurette. Recommended. (F. Swietek)