Maometto Secondo is an underrated Rossini, and it is an excellent one, moving dramatically and gripping from the start to finish in music. This 2005 production is definitely worth looking out for, but there are a couple of aspects that underwhelmed me. That said, the great things about the production are a great many, starting with the stylish and powerful orchestral playing and Scimione's confident musical direction. The chorus are well balanced vocally. Visually it is a simple production, and overall I did like the sets and costuming. The camera work, picture quality and sound are fine. There are two truly outstanding performances, with the best being the vocally sonorous, dramatically compelling Maometto of Lorenzo Regazzo, and Anna Rita Gemmabella is excellent also as Calbo especially in Non Temer. As I've said though, there are problems, starting with the lighting, which is much too dark and mournful, and the staging, apart from Maometto(and even his entrance is the anti-thesis of what it should be) it lacks tension and direction with even the chorus lethargic. There are also two performances that disappointed me, Carmen Giannattasio as Anna whose acting consists of frowns and little else and she takes time to warm up vocally, and especially Maxim Mironov as the most dominant character of the opera besides Maometto, who meets the vocal demands but dramatically he is very robotic. In conclusion, decent but also with pangs of disappointment. 7/10 Bethany Cox
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