[USED:Cond.B] Le Nozze Di Figaro: Jacobs / Concerto Koln Regazzo Keenlyside Gens

This album was nominated for the 2005 Grammy Award for "Best Classical Album" and received the 2005 Grammy Award for "Best Opera Recording."
This disc received the 2004 Gramophone magazine awards for "Record of the Year" and "Best of Category (Opera)."
The poet Lorenzo Da Ponte characterized 'Le nozze di Figaro,' his first of three collaborations with Mozart, as "a virtually new kind of spectacle." The composer's groundbreaking adaptation of Beaumarchais' notorious play 'La folle journee ou Le mariage de Figaro' swept away existing conventions of "opera buffa" and established new standards for operatic composition. The opening strains of the dynamic overture instantly set the ideal tone for the four acts of musically innovative arias, recitatives, and ensembles that document the events of the "crazy day." In short, Mozart's rendering of the trials and tribulations surrounding the nuptials of Figaro and Susanna, along with the accompanying twists and turns of Da Ponte's libretto, is a nearly flawless creation of transcendent beauty.
Rene Jacobs leads the Concerto Koln and an accomplished cast of singers through an incisive, elegantly articulated account of this masterpiece. Simon Keenlyside is appropriately imperious as the philandering Count Almaviva, while Veronique Gens brings dignity and grace to the role of the Countess. Lorenzo Regazzo offers a robust portrayal of the title character that emphasizes more of his subversive nature. Also excellent are Patrizia Ciofi as a strong-willed Susanna and Angelika Kirchschlager in the trouser role of the lovelorn Cherubino. This set can confidently take a place among the classic performances of this monumental work.