Metropolitan Opera, PBS and THIRTEEN New York join forces once again for a ninth season of opera telecasts, beginning in January 2015.
The Met's effervescent production of Rossini's classic comedy "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" — featuring some of the most instantly recognizable melodies in all of opera — returns to GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET.
The dynamic young cast includes Lawrence Brownlee as the lovestruck Count Almaviva; Isabel Leonard as Rosina, the feisty ward who captures his heart; and Christopher Maltman in his first Met performances of Figaro, the title barber whose skills extend far beyond hair-cutting.
In an acclaimed staging by Bartlett Sher, "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" also stars Maurizio Muraro as Dr. Bartolo and Paata Burchuladze as Don Basilio, with rising conductor Michele Mariotti on the podium.
Soprano Deborah Voigt hosts the broadcast.
The New York Times noted “Rossini's effervescent music, an energetic cast and Michael Yeargan’s spinning set” and found Leonard to be “a winsome, spunky Rosina.”
And the Huffington Post observed, “Alternately coquettish and cunning, she has a smile that could twist any man around her finger.”
Rossini's "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," like Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro," also sources from Beaumarchais’s Figaro Trilogy of plays — "Barbiere" being the prequel to Mozart’s opera.
The two operas share common characters: the Barber Figaro of Rossini’s title will be the one married in Mozart's opera; Rossini's feisty Rosina will become the long-suffering countess of Mozart’s opera; and the romantic Count Almaviva of Rossini’s opera will become Mozart’s jealous Count.
Isabel Leonard as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia
"Isabel Leonard sings Rosina's cavatina
Figaro's Aria in Il Barbiere di Siviglia
""Largo al factotum" is Figaro's entrance aria in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia. The opening lines translates as
GP at the Met: Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia Trio
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Past episodes of GREAT PERFORMANCES are available for viewing on demand for a limited time after each broadcast.
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CREDITS:
GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET is a presentation of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET, one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers.
