The Barber of Seville

About the work It’s a rambunctious tale: an old curmudgeon is set on marrying his own ward of court with a view to snapping up her considerable inheritance. He leaves no stone unturned in his efforts to keep the fair Rosina cloistered from the outside world and thus from any potential young suitors. A pity, then, that Count Almaviva has fallen head over heels for her. Assisted by Figaro, an enterprising barber, he plans to outwit the old man, win over Rosina – and ensure that it’s love that attracts her to him rather than his rank and wealth. Not an easy job for Figaro, seeing as the opposite camp is scheming with equal tenacity … Love wins out in the end, and it turns out that all precautions were useless! Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais [1732 –1799] dreamt up the character of the mischievous barber and wrote an entire comic trilogy about him, the first two instalments of which (LE BARBIER DE SÉVILLE OU LA PRÉCAUTION INUTILE [1775] and LA FOLLE JOURNÉE OU LE MARIAGE DE FIGARO [1778]) are world famous. Part 3, L’AUTRE TARTUFFE OU LA MÈRE COUPABLE [1792], was not such a hit, perhaps due to the upheavals of the Revolution. Although the revolutionary potential was especially palpable in the second part, with its brilliant soundtrack courtesy of Mozart [THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, 1786], the barber of the first part oozes disrespect, which inevitably makes him the central protagonist in this comic opera. Giovanni Paisiello had a runaway success with his musical version of BARBIERE in 1782, meaning that Rossini was up against a seemingly unassailable precursor when he resolved to compete directly with Paisiello in writing a comic opera based on the same material. And he pulled it off: 34 years after his rival’s own hit show he delivered arguably the wittiest and peppiest opera buffa in the history of the genre. About the production The action centring on the famous hair stylist, whose brainwaves solve all the challenges in the end, is transposed by Katharina Thalbach ...