Il barbiere di Siviglia

Herbert Fritsch's production of Barbiere di Siviglia goes back to the roots of the work in the commedia dell'arte in order to create something completely original from there. This creation is initially literally in the hands of the singers, who fill the commedia types from which Rossini and his librettist Sterbini started out with life in the form of the "enlargement" into the grotesque that characterizes Herbert Fritsch's directorial work. All of this is done entirely without props, but with a remarkable set: Victoria Beer's costumes transfer the rococo fashion and the grotesque "Maccaroni" wig fashion of early English dandies from the 18th century into a fantasy world, which is ideally represented in Herbert Fritsch's set design. There, large-scale colored foil panels form constantly changing scenes under computer control: Alleyways, squares, buildings, or simply places that become the stage for the acting characters. The stage is constantly in motion, sometimes more strongly, then more subtly, but without ever standing still. The perfect ambience, but also the perfect metaphor for Rossini's Barbiere di Siviglia.

 

Figaro's cavatina "Largo al factotum" is the signature melody of the Barbiere di Siviglia, but Rossini's masterpiece is peppered with many more gems. The coloratura cavatina "Una Voce Poco fa", for example, gives Rosina's interpreters brilliant opportunities to shine, and the same applies to the Conte's "Ecco ridente in cielo". Librettist Cesare Sterbini provided Rossini with ideal occasions to make music and thus made a decisive contribution to the enormous stage effectiveness of the work, for example in the finale of the first act, where the controlled chaos of a "Rossini crescendo" reigns: the image of a "hellish forge" conjured up in the text is painted with relish by the music with the sound of hammers and anvils. The busy composer had to write his most famous work in the shortest possible time - even reputable sources assume that the composition could not have taken more than two weeks. In order to achieve his goal in such a short time, Rossini frequently used material from his earlier works; one example of many is the thunderstorm music from the second act, which had already been used in the two operas Il pietro di Paragone and L'occasione fa il ladro, which premiered in 1812.

 

Figaro, the barber of Seville, introduces himself as the "factotum of the whole city", a helper in all situations. Like all barbers of his time, he is not only responsible for grooming beards and hair, but also for cutting teeth and bloodletting. In addition, Figaro also offers services for lovers and marriage candidates, such as secretly transporting letters or serenades on commission.
The opera was premiered under the title Almaviva, o sia L'inutile precauzione (Almaviva or The useless precaution) - the main character was therefore Count Almaviva. However, the audience's love quickly focused on the extroverted barber. In fact, it is not the barber's constantly escalating strategies, but the nobleman's power that helps his love win the day. And the fact that Figaro's good advice never leads the Count to his goal is not only to be forgiven at the (happy) end, but was of course intended by Rossini and his librettist Cesare Sterbini. For the detours taken by this barber create the most comical situations and some of the most stunning melodies composed by Rossini. Cesare Sterbini's model was the play of the same name by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, which premiered in 1775. He transformed character types and plot elements from Italian impromptu comedy, the commedia dell'arte, first into an opéra-comique and then into a prose comedy, which also incorporated impressions from a trip to Spain. The play is the first part of Beaumarchais' Figaro trilogy, the second part of which has conquered the world, particularly in the operatic version by Lorenzo Da Ponte and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.