The Barber of Seville

The Opera Explained Series - Book 0

The Barber of Seville

By Thomson Smillie
Unabridged
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The Barber of Seville is Rossini’s most popular opera. Its effervescent overture (written originally for another work) presents a perfect platform for the amusing plot in which the barber Figaro stage-manages a romance between Count Almaviva and Rosina.

“Largo al Factotum” is one of the most popular arias in opera—nearly two hundred years after its first performance, it is still one of the great show-stoppers. But why was the opera received with boos and catcalls at its first performance in 1816? And why did Rossini return to the plot and environment presented so sublimely by Mozart? Opera writer Thomson Smillie and actor David Timson present the background in an informative but entertaining manner.