Il barbiere di Siviglia
Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s production of Rossini’s sparkling comedy is full of wit and energy.
Introduction
Count Almaviva arrives in Seville to pursue a mysterious woman he met in Madrid. When he learns that she is engaged to marry her tyrannical guardian Bartolo, he asks the cunning barber Figaro to help him win her hand.
Background
Legend has it that the 23-year-old Gioachino Rossini completed his masterpiece Il barbiere di Siviglia in just 13 days, an achievement he attributed to ‘facility and lots of instinct’. He drew on Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais’ play Le barbier de Seville – part of a dramatic trilogy that also inspired Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. The opera is characterized by youthful energy and bold wit: qualities that are brought to the fore in Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s colourful production.
Il barbiere di Siviglia has all the ingredients for comic chaos: an imprisoned young woman, her lecherous guardian and her young noble suitor. Skilfully plotting behind the scenes is Figaro – an irrepressible and inventive character that many have seen as a representation of the young Rossini himself. The score fizzes with lyrical brilliance, from Figaro’s famous entrance aria ‘Largo al factotum’ to the frenzy of the Act I finale, when the five principal voices pile on top of each other. Within a few decades of its 1816 premiere, Il barbiere di Siviglia had been toured round the world, reaching opera houses in New York, Buenos Aires, Trinidad and Ecuador. It has remained one of the most prominent and popular operas in the repertory.
Credits
| Director | Moshe Leiser |
| Director | Patrice Caurier |
| Set design | Christian Fenouillat |
| Costume designs | Agostino Cavalca |
| Lighting | Christophe Forey |
Related links
- en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia: The Barber of Seville
- www.musicomh.com Interview: Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser
