Il barbiere di Siviglia

Il barbiere di Siviglia remains the most popular of Rossini’s comic operas, providing a witty and lively score to accompany a series of incidents worthy of any farce.
The first performance was unsuccessful as a result of objections made by supporters of Paisiello’s opera on the same subject.
The usual overture was that originally written for the opera Aureliano in Palmira ,and the work includes some of the best known of all operatic elements in Figaro’s Largo al factotum and in Rosina’s Una voce poco fa (I heard a voice a little while ago), as well as the fulminations of Dr Bartolo and Don Basilio’s La calunnia (Slander), praise of a useful way to dispose of the Count.
Other well known elements in the score include the Count’s first act serenade Ecco ridente in cielo (Lo, smiling in the heaven), while the music-lesson scene may include a coloratura aria, if Rosina is sung by a soprano, such as Alabyev’s Nightingale, an opportunity for vocal display.

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