DVD 5188 L'ITALIANA IN ALGERI

This production from 2000 by the Philadelhia Opera is a very good tradtionnal version of this piece.I agree with the previous rewiewer on almost everything that was written.As for Miss Blythe she has the right voice and what a voice it is.As for Juan Diego Florez a very young with a great talent as a belcanto tenor.The picture and sound are excellent with english subtitels.This dvd last 2hrs.45mins with an intermission feature

Wonderful sets, staging, and cast. I have other dvds with casts just as good, but none come anywhere near this as a whole. The only wish is that Blythe lost 30 pounds. But her singing is smooth as silk (not like many mezzos who sound like cranky grandmothers) and her acting quite elegant. I don't think I've ever heard a more beautiful mezzo voice, and I rarely like mezzos. Woodly is no Raimondi, but he needn't be to pull off just what Mustafa is. Character is more important that voice for his part. Florez is his usual fine performance for bel canto music. The Taddeo is especially delightful too. Unless you want a basso profundo, you can't go wrong with this. The intermission features on the production are very interesting.