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Mar 3, 2021 · The Barber of Seville, Opera by Gioachino Rossini. Here is a complete guide with a thorough explanation of the story, the background, and the voices.
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The Barber of Seville, 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 Beaumar...
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.
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.
•Figaro, a barber and factotum (baritone)
•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)
The Barber of Seville is set in Sevilla, Spain, in the 17th century.
Scene 1. Dawn, outside Dr. Bartolo’s house near Sevilla.
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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.)
Scene 2. Later the same morning, in the music room of Bartolo’s house.
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.
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.
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.
The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution (Italian: Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione [il barˈbjɛːre di siˈviʎʎa osˈsiːa liˈnuːtile prekautˈtsjoːne]) is an opera buffa in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini.
Bass-baritone Simon Bailey’s lecherous Dr Bartolo goes for the whole gamut of comedic acting: wig askew, ruddy cheeked, pratfalls. He is an easy victim, though he thinks he is shrewd. His parody of a soprano is a star turn. Bartolo decides to marry his ward, but is out-pranked at every turn.
- Vera Liber
Here’s what you need to know about ENO’s classic production of The Barber of Seville. It’s a comic masterpiece by Rossini. The Barber of Seville (in Italian Il barbiere di Siviglia) is an opera in four acts by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini. Despite a disastrous opening night – the music teacher tripped over and had a prolonged ...
The Barber of Seville, in Rossini’s version, is one of those happy but rare cases in the history of opera where the dramatic and musical elements are in accord, and both are of compelling quality. The whole thing is of a piece, and even though pressure of time led Rossini, as usual, to recycle some material, there is no question of its ...
The Barber of Seville is a comic opera composed by Gioachino Rossini, which premiered in 1816. It is based on the play by Pierre Beaumarchais and centers around the clever schemes of Figaro, a barber, who helps Count Almaviva win the heart of Rosina.
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