ROSSINI: La Scala di Seta

Serra, Bunnell; Kuebler, Rinaldi; Stuttgart Radio Symphony, Gelmetti. Teldec 9031-73828-6; 1 videodisc, 100 mins.

This sparkling production continues the Rossini one-act opera series emerging from the Schwetzingen Festival, and it is safe to say that these Cologne/Montpellier Opera collaborations set a standard that would be hard to surpass. Visually they are a delight. La Scala di Seta, like Il Signor Bruschino and La Cambiale di Matrimonio, is elegantly designed, with its tall balcony windows at the rear of the stage opening out onto the facades of Paris.

The singers have the timing and wit to sustain both the music and the comic maneuvering, and they hold up well under close-camera scrutiny. Luciana Serra as Giulia meets the coloratura demands easily, and her big aria "Ma se mai," sung as she stands framed in moonlight on a darkened stage, is something of a show-stopper. David Kuebler's Dorvil, though slightly strident at times, has the requisite thrust and agility, and he is ably matched by the Blansac of Alberto Rinaldi. 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.

Driving this team with a deft hand is conductor Gianluigi Gelmetti, whose beguiling appearance on-camera during the overture is, as they say, worth the price of admission.

- SHIRLEY FLEMING