)
This delightfully amusing story of young love unfolds in Spain with Count Almaviva striving to win the love of the beautiful Rosina. To rescue her from her awful guardian, the Count enlists the help of the town’s busybody barber, Figaro, who mostly creates mayhem with his disguises and schemes. The Barber of Seville appeals to both opera newbies and aficionados. This fully staged production features an international cast of singers and renowned designers. Tickets from $29.
Sponsored in part by
Celeste A. Heymann
(All images courtesy of Sarasota Opera)
Composer
Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Rossini was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as some sacred music, songs, chamber music, and piano pieces. He was a precocious composer of operas, and he made his debut at age 18 with La cambiale di matrimonio. His best-known operas include the Italian comedies The Barber of Seville (Il barbiere di Siviglia), The Italian Girl in Algiers (L’italiana in Algeri), and Cinderella (La Cenerentola). He also wrote a string of serious operas in Italian, including works such as Tancredi, Otello, and Semiramide. The Thieving Magpie (La gazza ladra) features one of his most celebrated overtures.
Read More ››Guest Artists
James Wright
Figaro
Victor Ryan Robertson
Sarah Nordin
Andrew Allan Hiers
Bartolo
Tyler Putnam
Dulcamara
Lauryn Kay
Berta
Nathaniel Voth
Fiorello & Sargeant of the Guard
Michael Burnette
Ambrogio
Production Team
Jennifer Williams
Stage Director
Dr. Andrew M. Kurtz
Producer/Music Director & Conductor
Caskey Hunsader
Production Stage Manager
Jeffrey Dean
Scenic Designer
Howard Tsvi Kaplan
Costume Designer
Michael Pasquini
Lighting Designer
Laura Friesen
Assistant Music Director
Samantha Wood
Assistant Stage Manager
ACT I
Seville. Count Almaviva comes in disguise to the house of Doctor Bartolo and serenades Rosina, whom Bartolo keeps confined to the house. Figaro the barber, who knows all the town’s secrets and scandals, explains to Almaviva that Rosina is Bartolo’s ward, not his daughter, and that the doctor intends to marry her. Figaro devises a plan: the count will disguise himself as a drunken soldier with orders to be quartered at Bartolo’s house so that he may gain access to the girl. Almaviva is excited and Figaro looks forward to a nice cash pay-off.
