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The Barber of Seville by Gioacchino Rossini

A commedia in three acts

Libretto by Cesare Sterbini after Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais' play

Le barbier de Séville
First performance: Rome; Teatro Argentina, February 20, 1816
Sung in Italian with English supertitles above the stage

Rossini’s incorrigible Figaro, one of the best-known barbers of all time, is a character made famous by the likes of Bugs Bunny. If you combine Figaro’s charm with some of the most memorable tunes ever penned, you get a twisting tale of hilarious intrigue with more than a few missteps along the way to happily-ever-after. When you add the effervescent coloratura of Jane Redding, the incomparable tenor of John Osborn and the exuberant baritone of John Michael Moore, you get a Barber to remember!

 

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CAST:

Berta, Dr. Bartolo's housemaid

Sergeant

Musicians, soldiers, police officers

Cast and opera are subject to change without notice.

PRODUCTION:

SETTING: Seville, in the 18th Century

In and around the house of Dr. Bartolo

SYNOPSIS:

Act I
In a square in Seville the young Count Almaviva has arranged a serenade for a lovely girl, Rosina, whom he has seen walking in the Prado in Madrid. The musicians, directed by Fiorello, play eloquently but there is no response from the balcony opening from her room. The musicians are dismissed and Figaro’s voice is heard in the distance. He proclaims he is a barber and probably the most resourceful man in all Seville.

When Almaviva and Figaro meet they realize that they are old acquaintances. Figaro vows to help Almaviva in his suit. He works in the household of Dr. Bartolo who is Rosina’s irascible guardian and plans to marry the girl. Rosina tosses a note from her balcony to her admirer. At Figaro’s urging, the Count responds to it with another serenade of his own in which he tells the girl that he is a poor student, Lindoro, and is in love with her.

The Count asks Figaro for his advice on how to get into the household. With the promise of gold, Figaro dreams up inspired schemes. The Count will disguise himself as a drunken soldier with good connections demanding to be billeted in the doctor’s house. After establishing the location of Figaro’s barbershop, the two men part.

Act II
Rosina is in a drawing room of her guardian’s home. She sings of her love for Lindoro and of her nastiness when things don’t go her way. She has written a letter to the young man, but she knows no one who can be trusted to deliver it to him. She is lamenting her fate when Figaro enters. He is about to give her some information about her Lindoro when the voice of Bartolo and the music master, Don Basilio, are heard. Figaro and Rosina leave. Basilio tells Bartolo that Count Almaviva has been seen in the neighborhood, and it is probably he who is wooing Rosina. Basilio wants to ruin the nobleman with gossip, but Bartolo is certain that his own hasty marriage with the girl will accomplish all ends.  

Figaro has eavesdropped on the conversation and tells Rosina that Dr. Bartolo plans on a wedding very soon. She is not concerned. She is much more excited when the Barber tells her that Lindoro is truly in love with her.  He suggests that she send him a letter that states her own feelings.  Rosina hands him the letter already written, and Figaro marvels at her genius for intrigue. When Figaro leaves, Bartolo demands to know what they talked about.  Rosina is evasive and Bartolo furious.  

Berta, the housekeeper, answers the door and the drunken soldier (Almaviva in disguise) walks in. He is deaf to Bartolo’s assertion that he is exempt from billeting even when the old doctor produces a paper to prove it.  Almaviva lets Rosina know that he is her Lindoro, and he accidentally drops the letter. There is a great uproar as the Count challenges Bartolo to a duel. Part of the guard, called by the neighbors, arrives to stop a riot. When the Sergeant tries to arrest the Count, Almaviva takes him aside and reveals his identity. A brief trio of bewilderment crescendos into a brilliant ensemble that concludes the act.  

Act III, Scene 1
Bartolo is musing on the drunken soldier, whom he thinks is a spy from Count Almaviva. There is a knock at the door and Bartolo is greeted by the Count disguised as Don Alonzo, a pupil of Don Basilio, coming to give Rosina her lesson since Basilio is ill.  Bartolo is alarmed at Basilio’s illness and starts to go see him. When the Count restrains him, Bartolo grows suspicious. The Count whispers to him that he has just visited Almaviva’s and there, in the Count’s absence, found a letter from Rosina which he flourishes. He tells Bartolo that if he shows it to Rosina she could easily be convinced that the Count is seeing another woman. Bartolo is pleased and rushes off to find Rosina.  

Rosina enters for her lesson and while she and Lindoro ostensibly work on her vocal technique (but indeed plot their elopement that night), Figaro shaves Don Bartolo.

Basilio enters to the shock of everyone; but the Count, who, in an aside to Bartolo, reminds him that Basilio knows nothing of the letter that will poison Rosina’s mind and so should be gotten out of the house. They all converge on him, telling him how ill he looks. The Count clinches the situation by slipping Basilio a well-lined purse.

The shaving continues, but the Count gets overly excited and speaks loudly enough that Bartolo overhears. Bartolo leaps from his chair and chases the three, distraught   with rage.

Act III, Scene 2
In the square of the city, Berta sings of her frustrations with life and then is caught in a rainstorm. After the thunderstorm the Count and Figaro enter Bartolo’s house from the balcony. Rosina at first refuses to elope with Lindoro because she is convinced that he is only an employee of Count Almaviva who is trying to procure the girl for the nobleman. Almaviva reveals that he is not “Lindoro”, an emissary of Count Almaviva, but the Count himself. They rejoice ecstatically in their love.

The elopement trio is interrupted when Figaro discovers that the ladder is gone. Basilio enters with the Notary, and Almaviva tells him to make out the contract between Count Almaviva and Rosina. Basilio is quickly bribed and joins Figaro as a witness. Bartolo, who upon entry demands the Count’s arrest, soon discovers that his plans are completely foiled. He philosophically makes the best of the situation and bestows his blessing on the couple.