Headlining the production in the title role, Alessandro Corbelli steals the show… if not only Buoso’s inheritance. Felicity Palmer (Zita) and Marie McLaughlin (La Ciesa) offset Corbelli’s caricature-like Schicci with comic panache.

Of course, Rinuccio’s “Firenze è come un alberto fiorito,” sung by Massimo Giordano, and Lauretta’s “O mio babbino caro,” sung by the youthful and beautiful Sally Matthews, were the typical highlights of this work. In this particular production, however, these familiar arias are woven into the fabric of larger than life drama created by the whole ensemble, and do not appear as the typical “number.”

What is so surprising about Glyndebourne’s production is their ability to transport this piece, originally set in Medieval Florence, to the Florence of the 1940’s. Sets, costumes, intricate staging, and comic action shaded with sinister intent color this production in a fascinating light. Vladimir Jurowski leads the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Total time: 77 minutes; extras include: interviews with stage director Annabel Arden, conductor Jurowski, baritone Alessandro Corbelli; a narrated and illustrated synopsis; a gallery of pictures of the cast. Sound: Stereo or DTS surround sound. Subtitles in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian.

Sarah Hoffman