The Barber Of Seville ((FREE))
Thomas Reed
Rossini's opera recounts the events of the first of the three plays by French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais that revolve around the clever and enterprising character named Figaro, the barber of the title. Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro, composed 30 years earlier in 1786, is based on the second part of the Beaumarchais trilogy. The first Beaumarchais play was originally conceived as an opéra comique, but was rejected as such by the Comédie-Italienne.[3][4] The play as it is now known was premiered in 1775 by the Comédie-Française at the Théâtre des Tuileries in Paris.[5]
Act One
It is dawn in Seville. Count Almaviva is in love with Rosina, the ward of Doctor Bartolo. The Count serenades the young woman, but she fails to come to her window. Figaro, barber and jack-of-all-trades, enters to offer his help. Bartolo emerges, and Figaro and Almaviva overhear his plans to marry Rosina himself. Almaviva serenades her again, introducing himself as a poor student named Lindoro, not wanting Rosina to marry him for his rank. She briefly responds before the shutters are abruptly closed. Figaro concocts a plan to get the Count into her house disguised as a drunken soldier.
This quintessential comedy features some of the most iconic music in the world and has introduced millions of people of all ages to the joy of opera, yet it remains a perennial favorite for the most hardened opera goer. The story of the barber Figaro and his machinations in smoothing the course of true love returns to the California, led by Mo. Marcheso with a splendid ensemble cast and whimsical new production.
Figaro, the barber, passes through, reveling in an occupation that has him wanted every minute of the day by everyone for every kind of task. Almaviva approaches the barber, revealing his love for Rosina, and is thrilled to learn that Figaro is a regular visitor in the household.
Figaro (Aaron St. Clair Nicholson), the wiley barber, reassures a worried Rosina (Katharine Goeldner) in Glimmerglass Opera's The Barber of Seville. George Mott/Glimmerglass Opera hide caption
The story of the barber Figaro and his machinations in smoothing the course of true love returns to the California Theatre, led by Music Director Joseph Marcheso, with a splendid ensemble cast and a whimsical new production.
Act I:
The opera is set in Seville, Spain. The young Count Almaviva is smitten with Rosina, a wealthy young woman who is under the guardianship of the elderly Dr. Bartolo. However, Bartolo intends to marry Rosina himself in order to get her fortune. Count Almaviva disguises himself as a poor student named Lindoro and enlists the help of Figaro, a mischievous barber who is known for his resourcefulness and wit.
The Barber of Seville, a comic opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, was performed for the first time in Rome in 1816, conducted by the composer himself. The opera is set in Seville at the end of the 18th century, where the wealthy Count Almaviva, on the advice of Figaro the barber, calls upon his beloved, Rosina, once in the guise of a music teacher and once as a drunken soldier.
The stage is set for comic chaos. Our enterprising barber Figaro has wits and tricks as sharp as his razors. It takes all of his clever disguises, subterfuge and scheming to wrangle a romantic encounter for the would-be lovers.
Based on the work of playwright Pierre Beaumarchais, the opera follows a smitten Count Almaviva as he woos the adorable Rosina over the objections of her grouchy, grasping guardian, Doctor Bartolo. The would-be young lovers are aided in their efforts to connect by Figaro, the barber and jack of all trades, in a romantic caper that Rossini endowed with some of the most lively and delightful music ever penned for the lyric stage.
What the Barber also shows is that Rossini additionally possessed a superb sense of humor coupled with a zest for life. Much of this comes out in his characters, but particularly in the pieces given to the role of Figaro, that is the barber of this work.
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