Gioacchino Rossini: The Barber of Seville

Who would not know the most famous barber of all time: Figaro, who masterfully commands both his razor and his gorgeous shrewdness that helps Count Almavivo win over his beloved Rosina? Love, tricks and intrigues are the ingredients of Rossini’s masterful comic opera. The sparkling charms of his score, spectacular virtuoso parts performed by the main characters: – playful Rosina with her bravura coloraturas and temperamental Figaro – as well as the penetrative tempo that the story ticks away with, have ensured the Barber of Seville a permanent place on the global repertoire. Today, hardly anybody would believe that its first night in Rome on February 20, 1816 turned into one of the biggest scandals in the history of opera! The opera exuberates with irresistible comic scenes; still, there also is a more serious note: – for example in the aria about slander by Don Basilio, the music teacher, that has not lost its bitter validity to this very day. However, the author of the story, the famous French dramatist Pierre Beaumarchais, wrote that he had in the first place intended “to indulge in his merry temperament and to give back to theatre its original joyful mood”. Rossini’s score immediately supported this intention, and also the new staging by the Prague State Opera has had this goal in mind. The production likewise received huge acclaim during the company’s visit in Salzburg, in October 2007.

Premiere: Sep 29, 2005

Response in the press