The Barber of Seville | opera by Rossini | Britannica.com The Barber of Seville Alternative Titles: “Almaviva o sia l’inutile precauzione”, “Almaviva, or The Useless Precaution”, “Il barbiere di Siviglia” Related Topics musical composition The Barber of Seville, Italian Il barbiere di Siviglia, comic opera in two acts by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini ( libretto in Italian by Cesare Sterbini) that was first performed under the title Almaviva o sia l’inutile precauzione (Almaviva; or, The Useless Precaution) at the Teatro Argentina in Rome on February 20, 1816. With a plot based on Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais ’s 1775 play Le Barbier de Séville , Rossini’s opera remains one of the most frequently performed comic operas in the repertoire . The barber of the title is Figaro , whose impressive entrance aria (“ Largo al factotum ”)—with its repeated proclamations of his own name—is one of the best-known of all opera arias.

Background and context The Barber of Seville was commissioned by the impresario of the Teatro Argentina at the end of 1815, when Rossini was nearly 24 years of age. In deference to Giovanni Paisiello , a popular Italian composer who in 1782 had himself based an opera on the Beaumarchais play, Rossini called his own work Almaviva. (The title was permanently changed to Il barbiere di Siviglia for the Bologna revival August 10, 1816, after Paisiello’s death.) Nonetheless, the production was viewed by Paisiello’s supporters as an affront; a group of them came to Rossini’s premiere, and they booed and hissed throughout the performance. The work was barely ready, and the performers were underprepared. Overall, the opening night was plagued by mishaps and pranks. Gioachino Rossini. © Photos.com/Thinkstock Not surprisingly, for the opera’s second performance Rossini decided to stay home. But this time the audience—presumably lacking Paisiello’s disruptive fans—was wildly enthusiastic; afterward they took to the streets and gathered outside the composer’s house to cheer.

Before long, productions were mounted across Europe and beyond; in 1825 the opera became the first to be sung in Italian in New York City . Similar Topics Carmina Burana During the 19th and 20th centuries, performances of the opera reflected common changes in fashion, some of which can be heard in recordings that remain in circulation. In the 19th century it was common for operas to be split into additional acts so that elaborate scene changes could be accomplished. The Barber of Seville was turned into a three-act production by splitting Act I between the outdoors serenade scene and the interior scene at Bartolo’s house. The most frequent change to the opera was the transposition of Rosina’s part from the original mezzo-soprano into a higher soprano range to accommodate the usual leading singers; when that was done, Berta’s range was lowered to mezzo-soprano so that contrast between the women’s voices was preserved. (Rossini’s use of highly ornamented mezzo-soprano coloratura roles is distinctive and rare in the repertoire.) In addition to these large-scale changes, the opera became laden with errors and changes in orchestration and structure that accumulated to become performance tradition.

For example, in published scores Rossini’s piccolo part was changed to a flute part, extra bass and percussion parts were added, and copyists’ errors were perpetuated. There was nothing approaching an authoritative score—that is, one based on evidence from the composer’s original materials—until 1969. Count Almaviva , a young nobleman ( tenor ) Rosina, a young lady and ward of Doctor Bartolo (mezzo-soprano) Doctor Bartolo, Rosina’s guardian ( bass ) Don Basilio, a music teacher (bass) Fiorello, Almaviva’s servant (baritone) Berta, Bartolo’s housekeeper (soprano) Ambrosio, Bartolo’s servant (bass) Notary, constable, musicians, servants, soldiers Setting and story summary The Barber of Seville is set in Sevilla , Spain , in the 17th century. Act I Scene 1. Dawn, outside Dr. Bartolo’s house near Sevilla. Young Count Almaviva is in love with Rosina, ward of the cantankerous Dr. Bartolo.

With the help of some local musicians, he serenades her outside her balcony window (“ Ecco ridente ”), but she does not appear. Despairing, he dismisses the band. Just as they disperse, he hears someone approaching and hides. It is Figaro, barber and factotum extraordinaire, who will take on any job as long as he is well paid (“ Largo al factotum ”). Having recognized Figaro, Almaviva emerges from hiding and lays out his problem. The Count is in luck, for Figaro is frequently employed in Bartolo’s house as barber, wigmaker, surgeon, pharmacist, herbalist, veterinarian—in short, as jack-of-all-trades. They hide as Bartolo comes out of the house, instructing his servants to keep the door locked and chuckling to himself about his plan to marry Rosina. When he leaves, Figaro urges the Count to serenade Rosina again, this time in the guise of an impoverished student who calls himself Lindoro. Rosina responds to the serenade, but she is soon pulled away from the window by a servant.

Figaro suggests that the Count can get into the house disguised as a drunken soldier who will be billeted there. Marveling at Figaro’s creativity, the Count agrees, promising to bring a purse of money to him at his shop. The scene ends as the Count anticipates the joy of love—and Figaro the joy of money. (This is the point in the opera where difficulty changing the elaborate scenery led 19th-century opera companies to create a separate “act” for the following scene. Modern performances use Rossini’s two-act structure.) Britannica Stories Rosina recalls the voice of her suitor (“ Una voce poco fa ”) and writes him a letter, determined to win him despite the plans of her guardian. She has sent for Figaro; just as he is about to tell her about “Lindoro’s” identity, Bartolo arrives and Figaro hides. Bartolo is angrily looking for Figaro, who apparently gave the servants sneezing fits with one of his powders. Rosina pretends not to have seen him. She leaves the room, cursing Bartolo, who now also blames Figaro for turning Rosina against him. Don Basilio, Rosina’s music teacher, arrives.

Bartolo will need his help in getting Rosina to marry him by the next day. He already knows that Count Almaviva is Rosina’s secret lover (although she still does not know his name), and when Basilio tells him that Almaviva is in town, Bartolo fears the worst. Basilio suggests slandering the Count (“ La calunnia è un venticello ”), but Bartolo does not want to wait for that to work; instead, the two go to Bartolo’s study to draw up the marriage contract. Figaro then comes out of hiding, having heard everything, and relays the story to Rosina. He then tells her about his cousin “Lindoro,” who is in love with her. Rosina pretends to be surprised, but Figaro knows better. She is eager to see her lover, and Figaro suggests that she write him a letter. Rosina feigns bashfulness, then pulls from her bosom the letter she has already written. As soon as Figaro leaves, Bartolo returns and questions Rosina about a spot of ink on her finger, a missing piece of letter paper, and an obviously used pen on the writing desk.

He dismisses her false explanations, threatening to lock her in her room as he pompously declaims that she cannot fool him (“ A un dottor della mia sorte ”). Rosina manages to slip away, with Bartolo in pursuit. Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest Bartolo’s servant, Berta, enters grumbling about Rosina’s behaviour. She is interrupted by a knock at the door. It is the Count, disguised as a drunken soldier, shouting and staggering into the room. Bartolo comes in to see what the rumpus is about. The Count drunkenly addresses him by a number of insulting variations on “Bartolo,” then surreptitiously looks around for Rosina, who now enters. The Count whispers to her that he is “Lindoro.” He tries to follow her out to his “quarters,” but Bartolo claims to be exempt from laws requiring him to house soldiers. The Count challenges him to a duel. Bartolo demands to see a letter the Count has slipped to Rosina, but she hands him a laundry list instead. Berta and Basilio enter as Rosina and the Count triumph over Bartolo.

When Rosina feigns a fit of weeping, the Count again threatens Bartolo, and everyone calls for help. Figaro answers the call, warning them that a crowd is gathering outside. As the Count and Bartolo renew their altercation, the police arrive, intending to arrest the Count. He reveals his true identity to the police captain, who releases him. Confusion ensues as everyone simultaneously proclaims their view of the situation. Act II Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Scene 1. Bartolo’s music room, later the same day. The Count arrives, this time disguised as “Don Alonso,” a music master sent to substitute for Basilio, who is supposedly ill (“ Pace e gioia ”). “Don Alonso” tells Bartolo that he happens to be lodging at the same inn as the Count. As proof, he produces Rosina’s letter, which he proposes to show her, claiming that he found it in the hands of another woman. Bartolo is thrilled with the idea. He takes the letter and leads Rosina in. She recognizes “Lindoro” immediately.

The couple sit at the harpsichord , and Rosina sings an aria (“ Contro un cor ”), working into the song both an appeal to her lover and insults to the unknowing Bartolo. Bartolo does not care for the aria and begins to sing his own song, dedicated to Rosina, in the style of a famed castrato . His dreadful falsetto performance is interrupted by Figaro, who states that he has come to shave Bartolo. Bartolo does not want to be shaved, but Figaro pretends that he is insulted, and Bartolo gives in. Figaro has a plan, and he needs one of Bartolo’s keys to open the balcony shutters. Bartolo gives Figaro the keys so that he can fetch the shaving basin. Bartolo whispers to “Don Alonso” that he suspects Figaro of complicity with the Count. A loud crash is heard, causing Bartolo to run off to see what has happened. Rosina and “Lindoro” exchange quick promises of love.

Bartolo and Figaro return, as Figaro explains that the room was so dark that he crashed into and broke all of Bartolo’s china; he secretly hands the balcony key to the Count. As Bartolo settles in to be shaved, Basilio unexpectedly arrives. Basilio has no idea why his arrival has occasioned confusion and is flabbergasted when the Count and Figaro “diagnose” him with scarlet fever. The Count slips him money, supposedly to buy medicine, and urges him to take to his bed (“ Buona sera, mio signore ”). Basilio, not inclined to ask questions about the windfall, at last leaves. Trending Topics Open Door policy Figaro begins to shave Bartolo; meanwhile, “Lindoro” arranges to elope with Rosina at midnight. When Bartolo tries to look at them, Figaro distracts him by feigning a pain in his eye . But Bartolo manages to figure out at last that “Don Alonso” is an imposter and flies into a rage as the others attempt to calm him. Scene 2. Dr. Bartolo’s house, later the same evening.

Bartolo returns with Basilio, who confirms that “Don Alonso” must be the Count. Bartolo sends Basilio to get a notary. Calling for Rosina, he shows her the letter she had written to “Lindoro” and tells her that “Lindoro” loves another woman and is plotting with Figaro to acquire her for Count Almaviva. Rosina, crushed, reveals the elopement plans to Bartolo, who vows to stop the wedding. As a violent storm rages, Figaro and the Count, who is still in character as “Lindoro,” climb in through the window to keep the midnight appointment with Rosina. She repels “Lindoro,” accusing him of betraying her love and trying to sell her to Count Almaviva. “Lindoro,” delighted, reveals himself to be none other than the Count. As the lovers express their joy, Figaro congratulates himself on a job well done, but danger still lurks. Looking out the window, Figaro sees two people at the front door and raises the alarm.

This gets the lovers’ attention, but as the three try to sneak quietly out the balcony window (“ Zitti, zitti, piano, piano ”), they discover that the ladder has been removed. They hide as Basilio enters with the notary, calling for Bartolo. Figaro boldly steps forward and tells the notary to perform the wedding ceremony for Count Almaviva and Figaro’s “niece.” The Count silences Basilio’s protests by paying him off. The lovers sign the contract, with Figaro and Basilio as witnesses. Their happiness is interrupted by the arrival of Bartolo with a police officer, but the Count once again avoids arrest by revealing his identity—this time to everyone. Bartolo at last bows to the inevitable as everyone celebrates the triumph of love. Gioachino Antonio Rossini - Opera Philadelphia Opera on the Mall Gioachino Antonio Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini was born on February 29th in the leap year of 1792 in Pesaro, a small town on the Adriatic coast in central Italy. His father, Giuseppe, was a horn and trumpet player and his mother, Anna, was a singer with a beautiful voice.

Gioachino grew up in a household filled with music. At six years old, he was accepted in Pesaro’s municipal band as a listaro, or player of the metal triangle that is called the lista. He was thought of as the band’s mascot. His parents traveled from town to town performing in theaters, and while they were away, Rossini stayed with his maternal grandmother. At school he was a troubled student and he often got into fights. Listening to his mother sing was one of his greatest joys during his childhood. He appeared in a public concert with his mother in 1804; that same year Rossini composed his 6sonate e quattro in which his graceful, lively manner and idiosyncratic phrasing were already evident. In 1810, he received his first commission to write an opera. He wrote La cambiale dimatrimonio (The Bill of Exchange of Marriage), a one-act comic opera that displayed his amazing vitality and imaginativeness. This opera had a run of thirteen performances. Approx.

2 hrs and 54 mins Includes one 20-minute intermission Gioachino Rossini, 1865 Credit: Photographed by Étienne Carjat However, this was the era of Napoleon and war was raging in most of Europe. As Rossini came of age, he risked being dragged off to fight in one of the many campaigns of the war. So in 1812, he requested permission from the son of the then deposed Empress Josephine to stay out of the Napoleonic wars. He was fortunate to have had a success with his first opera because he was granted a reprieve so that he could devote himself to his music. Rossini had another great success with La pietra del paragone (The Touchstone). It was first performed in 1812 and was filled with energetic and inventive music. It was a lively satire that had a run of 53 performances in a single season at the famous Milanese theater, La Scala. As a result, Rossini received three times the amount he had received for his first opera. Rossini began to write music at a feverish pace.

He composed six operas in the next 15 months, including the 1813 opera buffa masterpiece L’italiana inAlgeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers), and the melodrama Tancredi. This last opera brought him European fame. By the end of 1814, Rossini had written fourteen operas. Naples, Love and Colbran's muse In 1815 Rossini moved to Naples, where he lived for the next seven years. Naples was a bustling city with several beautiful theaters and many enthusiastic theater-goers. There Rossini met the great Italian opera producer Domenico Barbaja. He also met the striking singer Isabella Colbran. She was a leading soprano who favored grand, tragic roles. In the next seven years Barbaja produced as many as ten of Rossini’s operas which were all composed for Colbran’s virtuosic voice. In 1816, Rossini took a side trip to Rome and wrote his greatest masterpiece, Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville).

Back in Naples, Rossini wrote two more great operas, La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie, 1817) and the lavish, Bible-inspired work, Mosè in Egitto (Moses in Egypt, 1818). In March 1822, Rossini married Isabella Colbran. Shortly thereafter, they traveled to Vienna for a Rossini festival that ran from April to July. While there, Rossini heard Beethoven’sSymphony #3 (Eroica Symphony) and had a visit with the great composer which deeply moved him. Beethoven’s comment to Rossini was that attempting anything but comedy would be pressing his luck. In Venice in early 1823, Rossini premiered one of his last Italian operas, Semiramide. This opera was of the seria(serious) type. It was a great success and affirmed his claim to be one of the world’s leading composers. Life in Paris In August 1824, the Rossinis traveled to Paris to immerse themselves in the French musical world. Paris was the major opera center for most of the 19th century, attracting great composers and singers from throughout Europe.

Rossini was caught up in Romanticism, the century’s primary artistic ideal. A response to the rationalism of the 18th century, Romanticism was about love, as well as a celebration of nature and of the simpler life. In Paris, between 1824-29, he composed five operas, one in Italian and four in French. In his final opera, Guillaume Tell (William Tell, 1829), Rossini reached his musical peak and earned a national reputation which during the rest of the century was equaled only by Wagner and Verdi in their best moments. Of Tell, the composer Donizetti said that if the first and third acts were composed by a genius, the second was written by God Almighty. A few days after Tell’s premiere, Rossini left Paris and returned to Italy. He was looking forward to a long restful stay in Bologna. Two months earlier, King Charles X of France had granted him a pension when it was learned that he intended to retire from writing opera. Rossini hoped to leave music before it left him.

However, a year later (1830) Rossini had to rush back to Paris because King Charles X was deposed in the July Revolution in Paris. The new king, Louis-Philippe, deprived Rossini of all his privileges as well as his pension. Rossini’s visit to Paris turned out to be much longer than he anticipated. It took him five years to secure his pension, but in the end he was able to receive all that was owed him. Unfortunately, Rossini and his wife separated after he had to return to Paris. While back in Paris, Rossini had dinner with his friend the French author Honoré de Balzac and met Olympe Pélissier. This exceptional woman became his faithful companion, and after the death of Isabella in 1845 she became his wife in 1846. Rossini’s main accomplishment in Paris in the early 30's was the publication of Les soirées musicales (1835), a group of eight chamber arias and four duets. By the late 1830's, however, he was seriously ill. He and Olympe moved to Bologna in 1837.

His next major musical success was his Stabat Mater (1842). Despite its immediate worldwide success, he composed less and less. In 1848, after a distressing encounter with an antagonistic mob, he moved from Bologna to Florence, spending much of the next seven years in bed being cared for by his loyal wife. Finally, in 1855, Olympe moved Rossini back to Paris. There, his condition slowly improved, and in 1857 he began to compose the small piano and vocal pieces that he called Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age), which numbered more than 150. In December 1858, he and Olympe held the first samedi soir (a musical party); everyone in Paris wanted an invitation to one of his Saturday evening musical events. In the last years of his life, Rossini enjoyed these gatherings as a way of seeing his friends and as a way of having his small vocal pieces performed. Rossini’s last substantial piece was the sacred choral work Petite Messe Solennelle (1864). The last samedi soir was held September 1868.

Rossini died a few months later, on Friday, the 13th of November. A great of opera Today, Rossini is considered by many to be the first great Italian composer of the 19th century. For much of the first half of the century, Rossini was the most influential composer in the world. But by the time he died in 1868, many of his operas were no longer played. By the turn of the century, he was known to most people as the composer of a single opera (The Barber of Seville), several overtures, and one religious work (Stabat Mater). It has only been since the 1950's that Rossini has been given the credit he is due. This is a result of committed scholarship and the availability of singers who have mastered the difficult technique that proper Rossini singing requires. Many of his works have beenre-evaluated, produced on stage, and recorded. Each August, Rossini’s hometown of Pesaro holds a festival in which at least one of his rare works is staged. Today he once again is considered a major influence in the development of both Italian and French opera. New Production The Barber of Seville, Opera by G.

Rossini - Information - Vienna Opera & Operetta Vienna Opera & Operetta - Schedule The Barber of Seville, Opera by G. Rossini “Figaro! Figaro! Figaro!” - the famous refrain that announces the arrival of the Barber of Seville and the start of what is arguably still the best comedy in opera. Based on Pierre Beaumarchais’ play of 1775, Le Barbier de Séville, and reputedly written in just thirteen days, the speed at which Gioachino Rossini composed this magical farce seems to have fed itself into the music and the story; both move at such a pace that the entertainment never lets up for a single moment. The eponymous Barber of Seville is employed by Count Almaviva to help him win the beautiful Rosina’s hand in marriage. At Figaro’s behest, the Count disguises himself as a student, soldier and teacher, in his attempts to hoodwink Rosina’s jealous guardian, Don Bartolo. In the end, Bartolo is as much exhausted as he is outwitted by the shenanigans of the other characters.

Rossini judged The Barber of Seville’s premiere at Rome’s Teatro Argentina on 20 February 1816 to have been an unmitigated disaster. Even though Rossini originally titled his work simply ‘Almaviva’, in deference to Giovanni Paisiello, who had written his own Barber of Seville in 1782, Paisiello’s supporters were determined to voice their displeasure at Rossini stealing Paisiello’s thunder and booed the performers off the stage. Assuming that its poor reception had been down to shortcomings on his part, Rossini worked like fury to make improvements, but stayed away for the opera’s next night. This time the evening was a triumph and many members of the audience made their way to Rossini’s home to reassure him of its success. Unfailingly melodic, with music that effortlessly matches every twist and turn in the narrative, The Barber of Seville now makes a welcome return to Vienna and the Wiener Staatsoper. Conductor: Guillermo García Calvo The Barber of Seville, Opera by G. Rossini - Rome Opera Tickets - Opera - All Performances Event Dates The Barber of Seville, Opera by G.

Rossini It is rumoured that Gioachino Rossini wrote The Barber of Seville, a work many consider to be the greatest of all comic operas, in just thirteen days. The speed at which Rossini composed never seemed to be to the detriment of his music. However, those susceptible to superstition might think, given what happened at its premiere, that with The Barber of Seville it was finally a case of unlucky thirteen for the Italian Mozart from Pesaro. One of Rossini’s musical elders, Giovanni Paisiello, had already written his own Barber of Seville in 1782. In deference to Paisiello, Rossini originally called his work Almaviva, but this did not stop Paisiello’s followers disrupting the opera’s first performance at Rome’s Teatro Argentina on 20 February 1816 by filling the auditorium with catcalls and jeers. In truth, The Barber of Seville was not really ready. More rehearsal was needed and technical glitches were still to be ironed out. Rossini turned things around in barely forty-eight hours.

By the third night, The Barber of Seville had gone from disaster to triumph, the curtain closing on the final act with the audience in raptures. The young Count Almaviva has fallen in love with Rosina, a beautiful wealthy heiress, but finds himself in a race to win her hand in marriage with Dr Bartolo, Rosina’s elderly guardian. Undeterred, he enlists the support of Figaro, the barber of the title, to trick his way into Bartolo’s house. Almaviva adopts a series of disguises - minstrel, soldier and music teacher - to outwit the curmudgeonly Bartolo and beat him to the altar. Brimming with energy, The Barber of Seville has something for everyone: fast-paced comedy, well-drawn characters, and a treasure trove of some of opera’s most recognisable melodies, from the repeated refrain and swagger of ‘Figaro, Figaro, Figaro’ that accompanies the arrival of the Barber in ‘Largo al factotum’ (‘Make way for the factotum’) to Rosina’s declaration of intent in ‘Una voce poco fa’ (‘A voice just now’).

Now in performance at the Teatro Costanzi, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, one cannot fail to succumb to the charm of this effervescent work, one of the most popular operas of all time. Listen to Overture to "The Barber of Seville" by Gioachino Rossini - Listening Library - The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Library of Congress Gioachino Rossini was the greatest opera composer of his generation. From his first farsa comica written at age eighteen to his crowning work for the stage, William Tell, he dashed off an astounding 39 operas in nineteen years. Then, at the height of his fame and creative powers, Rossini withdrew almost entirely from composing, never writing another opera in his remaining forty years. Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) takes its characters from the same trilogy by the French playwright Beaumarchais that also inspired Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. In this first installment of the comedic trilogy, the mischievous barber, Figaro, helps the wealthy Count of Almaviva scheme to win over a beautiful girl, Rosina, who is kept cloistered in her guardian’s house.

For the overture, Rossini recycled music that he had used in two previous operas, both tragedies. The opening section, in a mild Andante maestoso tempo, sets the stage with conversational exchanges and a seductive melody over guitar-like plucks. The Allegro vivo body of the Overture introduces an unforgettable E-minor melody, beginning with five quick notes, the last two rising and falling a half-step in a nervous twitter. It is a testament to the universal appeal of Rossini’s themes that the overture, almost entirely intact, served as the foundation of The Rabbit of Seville, a Warner Bros. cartoon from 1950 that introduced opera to new generations of music lovers.

Aaron Grad ©2014 Gioachino Rossini | Italian composer | Britannica.com Gioachino Rossini Alternative Title: Gioachino Antonio Rossini Gioachino Rossini Claudio Monteverdi Gioachino Rossini, in full Gioachino Antonio Rossini (born February 29, 1792, Pesaro , Papal States [Italy]—died November 13, 1868, Passy, near Paris, France ), Italian composer noted for his operas , particularly his comic operas, of which The Barber of Seville (1816), Cinderella (1817), and Semiramide (1823) are among the best known. Of his later, larger-scale dramatic operas, the most widely heard is William Tell (1829). Gioachino Rossini. © Photos.com/Thinkstock Early years Gioachino Rossini was the son of Giuseppe Rossini, an impoverished trumpeter who played in miscellaneous bands and orchestras, and Anna Guidarini, a singer of secondary roles. Thus, Rossini spent his entire childhood in the theatre.

Though a lazy student, the young Rossini found it easy to learn to sing and play. At age 14 he entered Bologna’s Philharmonic School (now the G.B. Martini State Conservatory of Music) and composed his first opera seria — Demetrio e Polibio (1806; staged in 1812)—for the Mombelli, a family of singers. At 15 he had learned the violin , horn , and harpsichord and had often sung in public, even in the theatre, to earn some money. When his voice broke and he was unable to continue singing , Rossini became an accompanist and then a conductor. He had already realized the importance of the German school of composition , perceiving the new elements by which Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had enriched music . These influences can be found in the early cantata he wrote for the Philharmonic School, performed there in 1808. During the next 20 years (from 1808) this genial lazybones was to compose more than 40 operas.

Italian period By taste, and soon by obligation, Rossini threw himself into the genre then fashionable: opera buffa ( comic opera ). His first opera buffa, La cambiale di matrimonio (1810; The Bill of Marriage), was performed in Venice and had a certain success, although his unusual orchestration made the singers indignant. Back in Bologna again, he gave the cantata La morte di Didone (1811; The Death of Dido) in homage to the Mombelli family, who had helped him so much, and he scored a triumph with the two-act opera buffa L’equivoca stravagante (1811; The Extravagant Misunderstanding). The following year, two more of his comic operas were produced in Venice. Gioachino Rossini featured on a cigarette trading card.

© Hemera/Thinkstock Listen: Rossini, Gioacchino: La scala di seta (“The Silken Ladder”) Overture from Gioacchino Rossini’s La scala di seta (… Rossini had already broken the traditional form of opera buffa: he embellished his melodies (he was the true creator of bel canto , a florid style of singing), animated his ensembles and finales, used unusual rhythms, restored to the orchestra its rightful place, and put the singer at the service of the music. In 1812 Rossini wrote the oratorio Ciro in Babilonia (Cyrus in Babylon) and La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder), another comic opera. Britannica Stories Scientists Ponder Menopause in Killer Whales The same year, Marietta Marcolini, who had already sung in Rossini’s operas and who was interested in the young composer, recommended Rossini to the committee of La Scala opera house in Milan . It was under contract to them that he wrote La pietra del paragone (1812; The Touchstone), a touchstone of his budding genius.

In its finale, Rossini—for the first time—made use of the crescendo effect that he was later to use and abuse indiscriminately. Listen: Rossini, Il Signor Bruschino Overture from Gioacchino Rossini’s Il signor Bruschino; from a 1951 recording by the NBC … Listen: Rossini, L’Italiana in Algeri (“The Italian Girl in Algiers”) Overture from Gioacchino Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri (The Italian … By this time Rossini’s experience in writing seven operas and several cantatas and his intimate contact with the theatre had given him a profound knowledge of his profession. Singers no longer held terrors for him. He was now ready for his major works. Venice, the most-refined city in Italy , was to offer him his true glory.

After the comic opera Il signor Bruschino (1813), written for the San Moisè Theatre, he next wrote—for La Fenice—his first serious opera, Tancredi (1813), in which he tried to reform opera seria (the formula-ridden, serious operas of the 18th century), and he composed an authentically dramatic score. This work, spirited and melodious, was an instant success. Tancredi’s famous song, “ Di tanti palpiti, ” was whistled all over town. The success of L’Italiana in Algeri (1813; The Italian Girl in Algiers) followed, showing further refinements in his reforms of opera buffa. These two successes opened wide the doors of La Scala. With Aureliano in Palmira (1814) the composer affirmed his authority over the singers; he decided to prescribe and write the ornaments for his arias, but the work was not a success.

After L’Italiana he wrote Il Turco in Italia (1814; The Turk in Italy) for the Milanese and a cantata for Princess Belgioioso, “one of the most likeable of protectresses,” as the French novelist Stendhal referred to her. Rossini’s next work, Sigismundo (1814), was a failure. Britannica Lists & Quizzes Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Rossini’s fame soon spread to Naples , where the reigning impresario was Domenico Barbaia, an ambitious former coffeehouse waiter who by gambling and running a gaming house had amassed a fortune and was now in charge of the two great Neapolitan theatres. Barbaia realized Rossini’s growing fame and went to Bologna to offer him a contract. Impressed by the terms of this contract—security, two operas a year—as well as by Barbaia, a millionaire rather than the customary fourth-rate impresario on the verge of bankruptcy, Rossini did not hesitate to accept. How could anyone refuse a tempting impresario whose favourite was none other than the imposing diva Isabella Colbran?

Listen: Rossini, Gioachino: Figaro’s cavatina Figaro’s cavatina from The Barber of Seville (1816) by Gioachino Rossini. Colbran’s first Rossini opera, Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra (1815; Elizabeth, Queen of England), was a triumphant success. Rossini admired Colbran very much and soon fell in love with her. The brilliant success of Elisabetta prompted an invitation from Rome to spend the Carnival season of 1816. The first of Rossini’s Rome operas was unsuccessful. So was the second, Almaviva, soon to become Il barbiere di Siviglia (1816; The Barber of Seville ). The Romans, who knew and loved Giovanni Paisiello ’s version of Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais ’s play, took a dislike to this new setting, but when it was given elsewhere in Italy it was received with unbounded success. Written in less than three weeks, the work is a piece of inspired inventiveness that has delighted opera lovers ever since.

There followed La cenerentola (1817; Cinderella). As with The Barber, this work uses a contralto for the heroine’s role (though both roles are often sung by sopranos ); it proved no less successful. In between these two comedies came Otello (1816; Othello), a setting of William Shakespeare ’s play that held the stage until superseded by Giuseppe Verdi ’s greater opera of the same name. La gazza ladra (1817; The Thieving Magpie), a semi-serious work, was a triumph in Milan. Connect with Britannica Listen: Rossini, La gazza ladra (“The Thieving Magpie”) Overture from Rossini’s La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie); from a 1952 … Armida, a grand opera requiring a trio of tenors and a dramatic soprano (Colbran), appeared in 1817. Rossini was now finding interpreters that suited his music.

Colbran, the tenor Manuel del Popolo García , the bass Filippo Galli (“the most beautiful voice in Italy”), and the contralto Benedetta Pisaroni (whose art had no equal in depth) were his usual exponents and carried forward his art of bel canto. Listen: Rossini, Semiramide Overture from Gioacchino Rossini’s Semiramide; from a 1952 recording by … La donna del lago (based on Sir Walter Scott ’s poem “ The Lady of the Lake ”) failed at its premiere in 1819 but soon came into favour. After several more-or-less successful works, he left Naples for Vienna , along with Colbran (whom he had just married), anxious to meet Ludwig van Beethoven . Disappointed by the economic situation of the composer of Fidelio, he returned to Venice, where he attempted to crown his Italian career with Semiramide (1823). The old-fashioned Venetians, however, did not understand the astonishing work, his longest and most ambitious, and so he resolved not to write another note for his countrymen. Following his resolution, he decided to leave Italy.

Parisian period Rich, married, unstable, and by nature an epicurean, Rossini wanted to travel. He arrived in Paris in November 1823 and was enthusiastically welcomed in the French capital. The Academy in Paris received him; all of the town fawned upon him. At the end of the year, he visited London , where he conducted and sang in concerts with his wife and met King George IV . Back in Paris, he embarrassed the old musicians. “Rossini,” wrote the Escudier brothers, Paris music publishers, was then 31 years old and in his prime. His countenance revealed a lofty and congenial expression. His subtle, quick penetrating eye held one magnetically before him. His smile, benevolent and caustic at the same time, reflected his whole disposition . The clear line of his aquiline nose, his vast and prominent brow, which his prematurely receding hairline entirely revealed, the even oval of his face enclosed in jet-black sideburns, all formed a kind of virile and fascinating beauty. He has a marvelously shaped hand, which he displayed somewhat coquettishly through his cuff.

He dressed in a simple manner, and, under his clothes, which were more proper than elegant, the appearance of a newly disembarked provincial into the capital. Gioachino Rossini, oil on canvas by an unknown artist. DeAgostini/SuperStock Open Door policy If the old nicknamed him “Monsieur Crescendo,” the young very quickly paraded their admiration for him. Paris was then the centre of the world and Rossini knew it. After some of his works had been staged, he composed Il viaggio a Reims (“The Journey to Reims”), a cantata improvised for the coronation of Charles X . For a long while Rossini hoped to modify his style: to replace the comparative artificiality and coldness of florid opera coloratura with declamatory and lofty singing—that is, with truth and intensity. In order to do that, he also had to reform the orchestra and give more importance to the chorus. Thus appeared Le Siège de Corinthe ( The Siege of Corinth, 1826), a revision of the earlier Maometto II (1820), which was saluted by the prominent composer Hector Berlioz .

Le Siège was followed by Moïse (Moses, 1827) and Le Comte Ory ( Count Ory, 1828), an adaptation of opera buffa style to French opera. Listen: “William Tell”: “Overture” The overture from William Tell (1829) by Gioacchino Rossini. Rossini’s final opera, Guillaume Tell (William Tell), is on the noble themes of nationalism and liberty, and his music is worthy of the elevated subject. The Parisian public gave him an ovation, and, in a single work, he had responded to all the critics in the most elegant manner. Then he decided, at age 37, not to write again for the theatre. Tell was to have been the first of five operas for the Opéra , but the new government following the Revolution of 1830 set aside Rossini’s contract. The reasons for his musical silence remain only suppositions. Some cite his legendary laziness as the cause, while others point to the Parisian hostility to his work and Rossini’s resulting sulkiness.

Another cause might have been his jealousy over the Parisian success of the opera composer Giacomo Meyerbeer . Listen: Rossini, Petite Messe solennelle “Crucifixus” from Gioacchino Rossini’s Petite messe … In 1845 Colbran died. In 1847 Rossini married Olympe Pélissier. During his retirement he had written, returning to his first love, some religious pieces: the Stabat Mater (1832) and Petite messe solennelle (1864). He also wrote a few songs and piano pieces but never agreed to their publication. After a period in Italy, he returned to Paris in 1855, never again to leave it. His parents being deceased, his new wife less demanding than the preceding one, and he himself a wealthy man whose retirement was assured, Rossini gave way to the sweetness of life and to being a wise man who permitted himself to shine in society with a few clever expressions and witticisms. His bons mots, in fact, are legendary, as were his caustic wit and low humour.

At his Paris home and later at his villa in Passy, Rossini gave superb gourmet dinners attended by many of the greats of the musical and literary world of the mid-19th century. In 1860 the renowned German composer Richard Wagner visited him, and their fascinating conversation was recorded by Wagner in his essay “ Eine Erinnerung an Rossini ” (“A Memory of Rossini”). For years Rossini was known virtually only by the omnipresent Barber of Seville and an occasional revival of William Tell. From the 1950s more and more of his operas were revived, particularly at festivals, and nearly always with public and critical acclaim. The opera novice: The Barber of Seville by Rossini - Telegraph The opera novice: The Barber of Seville by Rossini Not for nothing was the Italian composer Gioachino Rossini nicknamed Signor Crescendo, finds Sameer Rahim.

Style and grace: Kitty Whately as Rosina Photo: Alastair Muir By Sameer Rahim , Assistant Books Editor 10:34AM GMT 21 Mar 2012 Follow You won’t find two more different composers than Richard Wagner and Giaochino Rossini, the creator of the lightest, most joyous music I've heard so far in opera. So I was intrigued to learn they admired one another and even met. In 1860 Wagner had just finished Tristan and Isolde and was nearing the peak of his powers; Rossini, after a hugely successful career as a young man, had written little for 30 years. The Italian composer told Wagner’s he liked his March from Tannhäuser, adding – somewhat defensively? – “I preferred to deal with comic rather than serious subjects. But I never had much choice in librettos.” His best-known work, The Barber of Seville, is a prequel to Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. Rossini said he got paid 1,200 francs for it, “plus a hazel-coloured suit”. That wasn’t bad for what he claimed was 13 days’ work.

“You see, despite everything,” he boasted, “I earned a big salary!” In his heyday of the 1810s and 1820s, Rossini was an operatic superstar. Girls shouted his name in the street and begged him for an autograph or lock of hair. The French novelist Stendhal wrote a cash-in biography of the composer when he was at the height of his fame. In this chatty Life he praised now less familiar works such as The Touchstone and Otello; but he also wrote an entertaining chapter on his enduring hit, The Barber of Seville, which I saw last week at the Hackney Empire performed by English Touring Opera. Seeing it at Covent Garden last year, I was taken with the hummable tunes, silly plot and comic energy – and I couldn’t wait to go again. Thomas Guthrie’s new production for ETO is set in period costume in Seville. Experienced opera-goers might think this rather trad but in my experience novices – one of the groups ETO would like to attract as they tour the country – prefer it that way. I’d like to get to at least my fifth Barber before I see the one set in Ibiza.

The first night in 1816 was a failure. After a series of calamities – a cat wandering on stage, a singer tripping on a loose board – the audience was booing (and meowing) so loudly you could barely hear anything. On the second night Rossini locked himself in his room and had to be coaxed out to receive the standing ovation. Since then it has rarely failed to please audiences. Related Articles The opera novice: passion for Puccini's Tosca 03 Feb 2012 Count Almavira (Nicholas Sharratt) serenades his love Rosina (Kitty Whately) under her window every night. Rosina’s guardian has designs on the wealthy orphan and so keeps her under strict lock and key. The Count engages the local barber and town fixer Figaro (Grant Doyle) to think up ruses to get into her home. Cue much comic high (and low) jinx involving dropped letters, quick-thinking bribery and pretending to be a drunk soldier. Rossini’s music is incredibly familiar – possibly because as kids we all saw the Bugs Bunny version .

Even if you're hearing the overture for the first time, though, it's instantly memorable – especially the bit two minutes in when the violins set off like race horses, first trotting steadily then building up to a full gallop. You’re never more than a short recitative from another blistering song. Not for nothing was Rossini nicknamed Signor Crescendo. The most famous aria is also one of the most famous in all opera: “ Largo al factotum ”, or “Make way for the guy who can do anything”. This is a riff by Figaro on how brilliant he is – “Ah, bravo Figaro/ Bravo, bravissimo”. When I heard it sung in English here, if anything it sounded funnier with its talk of wigs, beards and leeches. But I must say I missed the smooth rhyming of the Italian vowel endings.

An equal hit on the night was Rosina’s aria sung from the seclusion of the house, “ Una voce poco fa / qui nel cor mi risuono ”, “A little voice just echoed in my heart.” Whately did a great job of showing the switch from love-lorn innocent to combative woman: after claiming to be pliant, she says she’ll respond like a viper to anyone who challenges her. Stendhal did not approve: “There is a good deal of unnecessary self-assertiveness in this song of this innocent young ward, and a good too little love.” And what of the self-assertiveness of Rossini’s music? Like any catchy tune you could imagine it driving you mad. What redeems it though is a knowing, even cheeky, quality. “That intelligent face,” said Wagner when he saw his portrait, “that ironic mouth – it could only be the composer of the Barber.” The Barber of Seville | Music Shop Europe The Barber of Seville Brass Band. product type Set (Score & Parts). Published by Obrasso There is currently no description available for this product.

The Barber of Seville - San Diego Opera The Barber of Seville In the Classroom Rossini and Barber Gioachino Rossini was born in Pesaro, in 1792, to an impoverished couple who made their living as musicians on the fringe of musical life as it was known then. His father was the town trumpeter, a position which for the most part involved appearances at various civic and church ceremonies. His mother was a seamstress and a singer who appeared in productions at various provincial opera houses near Pesaro. For a time during Rossini’s childhood, both parents traveled around North Central Italy performing in opera, he in the orchestra, she onstage in minor roles, and it was from these experiences that the young composer had his first exposure to the art form. Recognizing his precocious talent, his parents arranged for piano lessons and instruction in basic composition. He entered the music academy in Bologna at the tender age of 14 and, once on his own, was writing short, one-act operatic farces for the Teatro San Moisé in Venice by the time he was eighteen. His first great success was La pietra del paragone which was given at La Scala in Milan in 1812.

It was hailed by the author Stendhal as a work of comic genius. What distinguishes Rossini during this period is the seeming comfort he had with both comic and serious opera and the success bestowed upon him by his public in both genres. Between 1812 and 1816 he wrote the comedies Il Signor Bruschino, L’italiana in Algeri, Il turco in Italia and Barber. During the same period he produced an equal number of serious operas: Tancredi, Elisabetta, Aureliano in Palmira and Otello. On December 26, 1815, Rossini was presented with a contract to produce a comic opera for the carnival season of the Teatro di Torre Argentina in Rome, just a few months later. Although it seems a short time to produce an opera from our standpoint, it was the custom in Italy for theatres to commission composers for upcoming seasons, even if they were only a few months away. But this contract was quite unique: signed at the end of December, the finished score was expected by the middle of January, with a full production of the opera to follow in February.

That means that Rossini had little over a month to choose a libretto, write the score, orchestrate it and produce the recitatives. Even by early 19th century standards, this was an unusually rapid pace for production of an opera. It was Cesare Sterbini, the librettist of Rossini’s most recent opera Torvaldo e Dorliska (1815), who suggested that he look at a libretto prepared for the composer Paisiello based on Beaumarchais’ Barber of Seville. Since it already existed and was a well-known entity, it would not take Rossini and Sterbini long to fashion it into a useable piece. After gaining the elder Paisiello’s permission to embark upon the same material that he had so successfully navigated before, Rossini and Sterbini set to work. The librettist produced the drama in twelve days and it’s been deduced from various contemporary sources that Rossini could not have written Barber in more than 19 or 20 days at most. This is incredibly fast work, particularly when you consider that Il barbiere di Siviglia is arguably the greatest opera buffa ever written.

Rossini did, however, steal passages and motives from his own earlier works in order to hasten the process, but only a tune here, a melody there, and the complete reworking of earlier material in order to make it work in a new context. As was the custom at the time, the composer directed all of the staging rehearsals, coached all of the singers as well as the chorus and agreed to be present at the keyboard to conduct the first three performances (again, this was the custom in Italian opera houses at the time for new works). The first performance was on February 20, 1816 and despite Paisiello’s agreement that the young composer could write his own version of Barber, the older composer’s claque (a group of paid supporters) was in attendance, ready to pounce on the first sign of weakness. Their first opportunity came with the entrance of the young Rossini into the pit before the performance of the overture. He had chosen to wear a foppish, Spanish style coat with large gold buttons, something the audience found amusingly pretentious, and so the catcalls and the laughter began.

Then Manuel Garcia, the great tenor who was the first Count Almaviva, decided to accompany himself on the guitar in the serenade that opens his scene. While tuning the guitar onstage, a string broke, bringing more hissing and laughter. When Figaro bounded onstage a few minutes later, carrying yet another guitar, the audience’s reaction got worse. The singer portraying Basilio tripped over some badly placed scenery on his entrance and sang his entire aria with a handkerchief placed in front of his bloodied nose. Finally, a stray cat wandered onto the set in the finale of Act I, provoking Almaviva, Figaro, Rosina and Bartolo to chase it all over the stage. The poor creature finally took refuge under Rosina’s skirts, to the great amusement of the crowd. During this entire fiasco, Rossini calmly led the orchestra and cast in their performance, rendered his bow after the final cadence, and went home. The next evening he feigned illness and stayed in bed, hoping to avoid the theatre at all costs.

But the second performance must have gone much better; late that night he was awakened from a deep sleep by shouts of ‘bravo, bravissimo Figaro’ from the street in front of his apartment. The audience had come to shower praise on him for what he called “an unprecedented success”. From that performance on, The Barber of Seville was assured its place in opera history. The Source of Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Beaumarchaisâ Le barbier de SÃ©ville Born in 1732, Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais was, like his character Figaro, a person who enjoyed many different professions during his life. He was a watchmaker, an instructor of harp, a judge, a diplomat and even, at one point, a spy. He was also a man of contradiction, having at one time purchased a noble title but at another time aligning himself with rebels involved in both the American and French revolutions and furnishing arms to them. Above all, however, he was a writer for the stage, his first theatrical efforts being produced when he was 25 years old.

The Barber of Seville (Le barbier de Séville) was the first in a cycle of three plays, all featuring the same characters whom we watch grow older and deal with different situations in their lives. These characters are Count Almaviva, the lovely Rosina who is the object of his affections, and his servant Figaro. In the first play Almaviva outwits the old doctor Bartolo in order to marry the doctor’s ward, Rosina, all the while helped by the machinations of his barber Figaro. In the second play, The Marriage of Figaro (Le mariage de Figaro), they’re a few years older. It is now the servant Figaro who outwits his aristocratic master. Figaro has to protect his new young bride Susanna from the Count who desires her. At the same time he tries to preserve the Count’s marriage to Rosina, who is now, of course, the Countess Almaviva. The third play, rarely revived these days, is called The Guilty Mother (La mere coupable).

It takes place twenty years after the previous play, and involves the illegitimate children of the Count and Countess, the potential loss of their fortune and, again, the last minute redemption of his employers by Figaro’s wit and wisdom. (French composer Darius Milhaud’s La mere coupable, based on this last play in the trilogy, premiered in Geneva in 1966). While Barber is pure comedy with roots in the works of Moliére, the second play (which later became Mozart’s great masterpiece Le nozze di Figaro) was heavily barbed and dangerously flirted with breaking down the barrier between master and servant. The Guilty Mother, however, has a darkness and cynicism that reflects the Revolutionary period during which it was produced and first staged in 1792. It’s interesting to note that Beaumarchais wrote both Barber and Figaro with music in mind. The original Marriage of Figaro was one of the lengthiest plays written up to that point simply because there were so many musical numbers demanded by the author. And Barber was conceived as an opéra comique from its inception and was only rewritten as a straight stage play after it was rejected for production by the Theatre Italienne.

And so it was eventually staged by the Comédie Française and has been a part of their repertoire ever since. Beaumarchais led a fascinating life filled with political intrigue and even imprisonment on more than one occasion, but to opera lovers he will be best known as having provided the source material for two of the greatest operas ever written. The Music of The Barber of Seville Rossini is readily accepted as the ‘inventor’ or creator of the Italian opera buffa or comic style. Even though he was as successful in his day in the opera seria or tragic operatic style, audiences today are much more comfortable with the musical language of Barbiere, L’Italiana and Cenerentola than they are with Tancredi, Semiramide or Guillaume Tell. One simple reason for that is the fact that elements of Rossini’s comic style ‘bled over’ into the standard Italian operatic style of the late 19th century. Even in the more serious operas of mid- to late-period Verdi and all of the Puccini operas, we hear melodies, orchestral techniques and musical ‘architecture’ that descended directly from the work of Rossini. What are those elements of Rossini’s comic style?

Let’s start with the orchestra. Overall, the tonal quality or color one hears in Barber can be described as bright, even brilliant. One can account for this by noticing Rossini’s favoring of the higher wind instruments of the orchestra. There are characteristic wind solos in all of the comedies that comment on the dramatic action, sometimes underlining their farcical nature. Brilliance is also added through the use of infectious rhythmic ideas, rhythmic ‘motifs’ or ‘cells’ that the composer will use to unify an aria, duet or other ensemble. These are most often given over to the violin section in the orchestra: they are short, highly energetic and immediately grab the attention of the listener. These ebullient ideas lend a sense of fun to the proceedings that is irresistible. A more obvious element of the Rossini style is the characteristic crescendo which begins with a quietly stated rhythmic motif that is repeated over and over with the addition of instruments, voices and increased dynamics every couple of bars. This creates a sense of growing agitation and tension until it explodes in a blazing climax of instruments and soloists, all vying for simultaneous attention.

This effect, so identified with Rossini, is used most successfully in the comedies’ first act finales where, typically, confusion reigns and the characters all run offstage to figure out how to solve their various dilemmas…hence a reason for all of us to return to our seats for a second act! In terms of melodic style, Rossini learned much from Neapolitan folk music, its typical contours and characteristic ornaments. Tunes feature short phrases with repetitive rhythmic ideas that give unity to the line. Added to that, however, is the composer’s penchant for coloratura and fioriture, passages of sometimes extreme ornamentation that carry the emotional content of the text (and demand great virtuosity from the singer). In Rosina’s aria, “Una voce poco fa” the florid vocal line is meant to communicate her independence and forceful personality. In Almaviva’s “Ecco ridente in cielo”, similar passages denote the character’s joyful expectations of love. Rossini composed for specific singers, tailoring his musical ideas to fit the color, texture and individual abilities of these artists.

But a pattern emerges: tenor roles lie high and are more suited to lighter voices; comic heroines are often written as contralto or mezzo-soprano roles, the color of the voice lending a certain musical ‘truth’ to these characters’ strength and resourcefulness. Basses are given the more overtly comic roles or portray older characters that are often the brunt of the opera’s ‘joke’. These ‘doctors’, ‘guardians’ and ‘clerks’, obvious descendents of the stock characters of the commedia dell’arte tradition, are assigned patter songs which emphasize the more ridiculous nature of their characters’ positions in the operas. In sum, all of Rossini’s compositional choices are at the service of the drama, and in Barber the choices are perfect!

CONNECT WITH US The Barber Of Seville | Operas | Season And Tickets | Opera Carolina The Barber of Seville The barber will see you now Saturday, October 22nd - 8:00 pm Thursday, October 27th - 7:30 pm Sunday, October 30th - 2:00 pm Buy Tickets The Barber of Seville / Il barbiere di Siviglia Bugs Bunny once did a version of The Barber of Seville. But Rossini did it first. The comic opera lends itself to being lampooned and “cartooned.” It’s a wild adventure filled with gossip and secrets where a happy ending is guaranteed. Synopsis Rossini’s The Barber of Seville is so embedded in popular culture, Bugs Bunny sampled its songs. It’s a madcap romp involving disguises; false identities; and a busybody, matchmaking barber. Multiple suitors are vying for the same woman’s affections in an opera so slapstick, it was suitable material for a cartoon. In the original version, the tunes aren’t looney. They’re lyrical.

Libretto by Cesare Sterbini from the comedy by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais The story takes place in 18th century Seville. Accessibility Options English Supertitles Provided During The Performance Act I Count Almaviva comes, in disguise, to the house of the elderly Dr. Bartolo to serenade his young ward, Rosina. Dr. Bartolo intends to marry Rosina, and he’s confined her to his house. Figaro, the titular barber, has access to the homes of Seville’s elite. He knows the town’s secrets and scandals. He arrives at Dr. Bartolo’s home and pledges his help to Count Almaviva, who takes on the persona of “Lindoro,” a poor student who hopes young Rosina will love him not because he’s a nobleman, but for himself. To enter Bartolo’s house, Figaro devises a plan: The Count will disguise himself as a drunken soldier with orders to be quartered at Dr. Bartolo’s. Then, he can declare his love for Rosina. Scene Two.

Alone in the house, Rosina reflects on the voice that has enchanted her and resolves to use her considerable charm to meet “Lindoro.” Dr. Bartolo enters with Rosina’s music master, Don Basilio, who warns him that Count Almaviva (Rosina’s admirer) has been seen in Seville. Dr. Bartolo decides to marry Rosina immediately – before any other suitor can have her. Figaro overhears this, warns Rosina and promises to deliver a letter from her to “Lindoro.” Disguised as a drunken soldier, Almaviva passes Rosina a note, which she manages to hide from Dr. Bartolo, who argues that he has exemption from housing soldiers. An argument ensues between the Count and Dr. Bartolo. Figaro enters and announces that a curious crowd has gathered in the street. The city guards burst in to arrest the drunk and disorderly soldier. The Count quietly reveals his true identity to the captain of the guards. He’s released, to Dr. Bartolo’s chagrin and everyone’s amazement. Act II Dr. Bartolo, alone in his study, suspects the “drunken soldier” was a spy.

The Count returns, this time disguised as Don Alonso, a music teacher and student of Don Basilio. He says he’s come to give Rosina her music lesson instead of Basilio, who’s at home sick. “Don Alonso” tells Dr. Bartolo he’s staying at the same inn as Almaviva and has found Rosina’s letter. He offers to tell Rosina it was given to him by another woman, proving Lindoro is toying with her. This convinces Dr. Bartolo that “Don Alonso” is a true student of Don Basilio, and he allows him to give Rosina her music lesson. Figaro arrives to give Dr. Bartolo his shave and manages to snatch the key that opens the balcony shutters. The shaving is about to begin when Don Basilio shows up looking perfectly healthy. To get the meddlesome Basilio out of the way, Figaro convinces him he has scarlet fever and should go to bed at once. With Basilio out of the way, the shaving begins and distracts Dr. Bartolo from hearing Almaviva plotting with Rosina to elope that night. But Dr.

Bartolo hears the phrase “my disguise” and realizes he’s been tricked again. Later that evening, Basilio is summoned by Dr. Bartolo and is told to bring a notary so Rosina and Bartolo can be married. Dr. Bartolo then shows Rosina her letter to Lindoro as proof that Lindoro is tricking her. Convinced she’s been deceived, she agrees to marry Dr. Bartolo and tells him of the plan to elope with Lindoro. After a thunderstorm, Figaro and the Count climb over the wall into Bartolo’s house. Rosina is furious with them, until Almaviva reveals his identity and professes his love for her. Basilio arrives with the notary. Bribing and threatening him, Basilio agrees to be a witness to the marriage of Rosina and Count Almaviva. Dr. Bartolo arrives with soldiers, but it’s too late. Count Almaviva explains tells Dr. Bartolo that it’s useless to protest, and Dr. Bartolo accepts he has been beaten. Figaro, Rosina and the Count celebrate their good fortune.

POPOpera Facts If you think opera is nothing but drama and death, you haven’t seen Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. But you’ve undoubtedly heard its music. Both Bugs Bunny and Woody Woodpecker sampled its songs. The Looney Tunes version, The Rabbit of Seville, is almost as zany as Rossini’s original. If you like the antics of The Three Stooges, then The Barber of Seville is not too silly for you. Disguises, false identities and a busybody, matchmaking barber are all part of the plot. The comedy is broad and physical. It’s no wonder cartoons adapted the theme and music. And after all the laughs, there is, of course, a happy ending. Meet the Composer Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) Known as Italian opera’s comic genius and the leading opera composer of the first half of the 19th century, Gioachino Rossini was the master of simple melody and clear rhythm.

Born in 1792 to a musical family – his father a trumpet player, his mother an opera singer – Rossini mastered the trade at an early age, writing his first opera at age 8 and becoming a national celebrity by the time he was 21. From Venice to Milan, from Rome to Naples, Rossini gained a reputation for his notable style and his uncanny speed at producing operas. Between 1808 and 1829, Rossini composed no fewer than 40 operas. Among his greatest successes are The Barber of Seville (1816), La Cenerentola (1817), La Gazza Ladra (1817), Semiramide (1823) and William Tell (1829). His comic masterpiece, The Barber of Seville, has delighted audiences of all ages for nearly 200 years. Also bearing the title The Useless Precaution, the opera was an instant sensation in Italy and shortly thereafter throughout Europe as the quintessential opera buffa.

(That’s Italian for “comic opera.”) Based on Beaumarchais’ play , The Barber of Seville is sometimes referred to as the first modern Italian opera. Written by the then-23-year-old composer, The Barber of Seville came at a time when Italian audiences were still amused by the farcical operatic conventions of opera buffa. While The Barber is often referred to as an Italian opera buffa, it is the true precursor to subsequent lyric comedies such as The Elixir of Love, Don Pasquale and even Verdi’s Falstaff. Rossini composed The Barber of Seville in just three weeks, with the exception of the now famous overture, which he borrowed from his own opera Aureliano in Palmira. In 1822, Rossini settled in Paris and became the Royal Composer and Inspector General of Singing in France. Despite his enormous success – even Beethoven congratulated him on The Barber of Seville – Rossini stopped composing at the age of 37. Living off the wealth of his achievements, Rossini lived lavishly until his death in 1868.

He was buried in Paris but 19 years later his remains were re-interred in the church of Santa Croce in Florence. Meet the Cast

Question: Gioachino Rossini wrote the opera ‘The ‘what’ of Seville’?
Answer: Barber