Search - Gioachino Rossini, Bruno Rigacci, Naples Alessandro Scarlatti Orchestra :: Rossini: L'equivoco stravagante

A 1971 live broadcast of this rare opera! Giaocchino Rossini (1792-1868) was all of nineteen years old when he wrote his first full-length comedy, "The Bizarre Misunderstanding," for the Teatro del Corso in Bologna. Despite his youth, it was his third opera, following two that had already been quite successful. The premiere took place on October 26, 1811 and was favorably received by the public, if not the censors, who found the many risqué double meanings of the text by Gaetano Gasbarri far too ribald, and some of the plot elements unredeemably lascivious. After only three performances, the opera was banned and never heard again in the nineteenth century. Believing the work was forever suppressed, Rossini freely mined the score for use in later works, so that listeners to Tancredi, La scala di seta, Elisabetta Regina d'Inghilterra, and many more are hearing bits and pieces of L'equivoco stravagante. Sesto Bruscantini (1919-2003) was one of the greatest bass-buffos of the past century, famed for his powerful, round, and steady tone; enormous stage presence; and vivid acting. He was best known in Rossini's The Barber of Seville but often went out of his way to perform rarities like L'equivoco stravagante. He was still singing well into his seventies.