Verdi was so plagued by organ grinders endlessly playing his music that on one vacation he rented every barrel organ in town and hid them in his basement just to be spared the sound of his own melodies. A good deal of Verdi's more infectiously bumptious music seems eminently suitable for hurdy-gurdy, and none more so than / Masnadieri (1847). It is a lively, lyric, bombastic, tuneful work, with the kind of silly plot (brigands, royalty, loyalty, and love) that Romantics loved and Verdi never grew out of. But the performance here is so exciting and dramatic, the singing so fine, that one can forget the drawbacks of the plot and enjoy what is simply an outstanding performance of a very likeable, lesser work.