IL Barbiere di Siviglia

Abstract

This 1815 masterpiece is widely considered the greatest of comic operas. Even when operas of the bel canto period (Rossini's period of flourishing) were rarely performed, its frequent presence on operatic stages of the world was unabated. The first performance, in Rome in 1816 was a fiasco. The older opera composer Giovanni Paisiello had composed an opera on the same story, also called The Barber of Seville, in 1782. Rossini had misgivings about composing a new opera on the same text, so he first obtained Paisiello's gracious permission to go ahead, and originally called his new opera Almaviva. This did not prevent Paisiello's claque from sabotaging the premiere, a feat in which they were aided by under-rehearsal, sloppy production, and stage effects which failed to work properly. Soon afterward, with some changes, the opera was presented again. Without Paisiello's fans creating an uproar, the performance was a success, and by the third performance it resulted in ovations and quickly went on to sweep the operatic world. (As for Paisiello's opera, it was soon eclipsed by Rossini's, but more recently it has regained some appreciation in the operatic world.)

The Barber of Seville is the first of a trilogy of plays by the French dramatist Beaumarchais. These plays, which tended to depict nobility as buffoons dependant on and manipulated by their wily servants, were considered subversive in the late 1700s. (The Marriage of Figaro, the second of the plays, was turned into an opera by Mozart in 1786. It is Rossini's opera, by the way, not Mozart's, which has the comic aria "Largo al factotum" containing the call: "Figaro, Figaro, Figaro.") Figaro is the barber of the title. The plot involves the efforts of the amorous young Count Almaviva to woo and win the lovely Rosina, in the process outwitting her ward, Dr. Bartolo, who fancies her for himself. There are textual difference among production of the opera. The primary decision is whether Rosina's part should be sung by a mezzo-soprano (as Rossini originally intended) or by a soprano, as it has commonly been done since 1826, apparently with Rossini's permission. An aria for Bartolo was lost, and has been replaced by one composed by a composer named Romani. And the "Lesson Scene" is also lost, so the soprano gets to choose music by another composer to use in its place. Some of the great popular numbers in the opera are Almaviva's serenade "Ecco ridente in cielo" and the more passionate "Se il mio nome." Rosina's"Una voce poco fa" is probably the most popular of all coloratura arias, while Bartolo gets his own aria, "La Calunnia" ("Calumny"), all about the evil power of slander. Incidentally, the famous overture to the opera, which is probably among the most frequently heard compositions of Rossini's in the concert hall, was not composed originally for this opera at all! Rossini was short of time, so he simply grabbed an overture he had written earlier.

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Act 1 - 1.Overture

If the music of Rossini's overture to The Barber of Seville seems to have a peculiar amount of "swashbuckling" surge and vigor for a comic opera prelude, it may be because the self-same overture had originally been composed for an earlier opera, Aureliano in Palmira, an historical work whose subject was the Crusades. It is believed that the same overture was called into use two more times before settling into the waiting room of the good barber Figaro. Rossini's recycling provides an interesting contrast with Beethoven, who composed four different overtures to arrive at the one he deemed suitable to his sole opera Fidelio. The once-perceived Sturm und Drang of the overture has been blunted by association, not only by the composer's accompanying setting of the Beaumarchais comedy but also by its jocular appearances in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, the Beatles' film Help, and a Seinfeld episode. The music is inextricably linked with high-spirited humor.

Owing to its transposed origins, the overture contains no material from the opera Il Barbiere di Siviglia. It is, however, most successful in its function, that of providing a feeling of deliciously nervous anticipation for the action to follow. Its wealth of vivacious and varied themes and its feeling of impetuous momentum render it one of the best opera overtures penned by anyone. Two brash chords herald the beginning, followed by a scampering yet hesitating figure which figures through most of the introduction; a contrasting central section is a sunny lyrical tune which could easily have been an aria. The intro seemingly drifts to somnolence until the opening chords jolt the music back to reality. A slightly grotesque Neapolitan dance takes center stage and is followed by a more jovial theme tossed between woodwinds and horns. Then begins one of Rossini's best crescendi, its headlong propulsion almost breakneck. A dramatic and sonorous chord progression in the coda suggests the overture's more serious origins, leading to the heartily assertive major key close of one of opera's most popular and best-wrought overtures.

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