I had never before actually *seen* this opera, but had played arias from it (bassoon parts) and had heard the entire score arranged for a wind octet. I found this copy at the library and was intrigued. While I have little else to compare it to, I enjoyed this film thoroughly. Five seconds after each character opened his or her mouth, I fell madly in love with them. I think the casting is excellent, especially.. well.. everyone.. but I must say that my favorites were Basillo, Figaro, and Count Almaviva. In my opinion, all singers had perfect timing, exquisite voices, and fine acting as well, if a little corny.. but then, that's fitting to this opera :) Although I'm just 17 and I don't really know opera at all, my mother, who toured for 7 seasons in the Canadian Opera years back, loved this film. So there you go. As the last person said, you don't have to love opera to love this movie. I was surprised I was still wide awake at the end and glued to the screen. The sets are very well done, as are the costumes too. I highly recommend this rendition.
