So here’s another Rossini one act farsa from Schwetzingen.  It’s a 1990 La scala di seta in, inevitably, a production by Michal Hampe.  It’s predictably pretty to look at and well constructed dramaturgically.  The Paris background is a nice touch.  There’s some fine singing and energetic fooling from Alessandro Corbelli as the servant Germano.  The principal quartet of lovers; Luciana Serra, David Kuebler, Jane Bunnel and Alberto Rinaldi backed up by David Griffith as the girls’ guardian are stylish and toss off the various quick fire ensembles with aplomb.  Gianluigi Gelmetti and the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart round things out with an equally accomplished reading.  So there it is, straightforward Rossini in a typical Hampe production pulled of nicely in Scwetzingen’s elegant rococo theatre.

For a 1990, recorded for TV, DVD it’s technically pretty good.  The video direction by Claus Viller is undistracting and the 4:3 picture is decent, as is the DTS surround sound (with Dolby 5.1 and PCM stereo as options).  The booklet has brief notes and a synopsis; though the plot is so straightforward one hardly needs it, plus a track listing.  There are no extras bar some trailers and subtitle options are English, German, French and Spanish.

This is one of only two video recordings of this work currently available (the offer is a more recent version from Pesaro) and is available separately or, at time of writing, as part of a five disk set of early Rossini operas, all directed by Michael Hampe and all recorded at Schwetzingen in roughly the same period.  At $30-40 for the whole set it’s a decent bargain.