The Barber of Seville

Figaro, the clever barber of Seville, helps Count Almaviva win Rosina from the clutches of her wily old guardian. Pure joy and silliness abound in this riotous Rossini romp. The Minnesota Opera's wildly popular production is re-imagined by director Kevin Newbury for its final revival. Barber is the perfect opera for first-time opera-goers.

Dates + Performances

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ACT I

The young Rosina is under the careful watch of her guardian, Dr. Bartolo, wh o intends to marry her in order to maintain control over her dowry. She has attracted the attention of Count Almaviva, who has disguised himself as a poor student, Lindoro, to determine if her love is reciprocal and genuine. He employs a small group of musicians to serenade at Rosina's window, but she does not appear. Instead the count encounters Figaro, the town factotum of many indispensable talents and formerly in his employ. The count describes his predicament and (for a price) Figaro offers to help - because he has access to Bartolo's household as his barber, he might be useful in winning Rosina's release for the count. Rosina appears at the window with a letter in hand but is apprehended by her jealous guardian. She lets the letter drop, and while Bartolo runs down to retrieve it, beckons to the count to pick it up. When Bartolo finds no letter, Rosina insists that the wind must have blown it away, but he remains suspicious. Figaro devises a plan to have the count gain entrance to the house by disguising himself as a drunken soldier. Once inside, he will be able to make contact with his beloved.

Inside Bartolo's house Figaro briefly confers with Rosina, who is determined to outwit her doddering jailer. The sound of Bartolo approaching puts Figaro into hiding. Bartolo enters in a fury - Figaro has debilitated his household staff by administering all the wrong potions and medicines. When accused, Rosina admits to speaking to him and curtly leaves the room. Bartolo receives a visit from Rosina's music teacher, Don Basilio, who brings news that Count Almaviva is in Seville and traveling incognito in order to court Rosina undetected. Basilio advises Bartolo to destroy his rival by spreading vicious rumors. Bartolo decides instead to marry Rosina quickly, and they exit as Basilio agrees to help with the marital arrangements.

Figaro, who has been listening the entire time, finds Rosina to tell her of Bartolo's plot and to let her know of her mystery lover's imminent visit. Rosina is overjoyed, and at Figaro's suggestion, begins to write "Lindoro" a note. Figaro leaves as Bartolo returns. He accuses Rosina of writing secret lett ers – a doctor of his standing cannot be easily fooled. He is determined to keep her under lock and key until their marriage is finalized.

Dressed in his soldier's disguise, Almaviva arrives at Bartolo's house and gives the doctor a written order requiring that he is to be given a night's lodging. Bartolo desperately protests that he has an exemption from such billeting. Meanwhile, Rosina attempts to retrieve a letter from the count but once observed, tries to convince Bartolo that it is a laundry list. As the pandemonium grows, the police are summoned, but an attempt to take Almaviva into custody is aborted as he privately reveals his true identity to the sergeant. It seems everyone, especially Dr. Bartolo, is left completely confounded by the day's events.

ACT II

The count has assumed the new disguise of Don Alonso, a music teacher, in his continuing effort to win a few moments with Rosina and eventually free her from the household prison. Bartolo is made to believe that he is a student of Don Basilio and has been sent in his place because the music master is ill. He then gains Bartolo's confidence by telling him he is privy to the plan to defame the count and hands him Rosina's letter as further evidence of his complicity. Bartolo falls for the story and allows the lesson to begin. Figaro enters and while preparing for the doctor's shave, takes the opportunity to steal the keys to Rosina's balcony. He creates a diversion to temporarily lure Bartolo away, and  Rosina and Almaviva (whom she still believes to be Lindoro) discuss the details of their nocturnal escape. The arrival of Basilio complicates the matter, but sufficiently bribed, he is quickly ushered away. Bartolo eventually overhears details of the lovers' plot and orders "Don Alonso" from his house.
 
Realizing the count's agents have penetrated his home, Bartolo is determined to marry Rosina at once. He shows her the letter to Lindoro, claiming he obtained it from Count Almaviva, for whom Lindoro must clearly be working. Rosina is left alone to consider her betrayal as a storm rages outside. As night falls, Figaro and Almaviva appear on the balcony as planned but are confronted by a furious Rosina, who believes she has been deceived. Almaviva reveals his true identity, and Rosina, at first stunned, accepts him with joy. Basilio enters with the notary Bartolo has engaged for his own wedding. Bribed with more money, Basilio agrees to act as witness to the marriage of Rosina and Almaviva. Bartolo arrives, but it is too late. Almaviva placates the old doctor by allowing him to keep Rosina's dowry, and all celebrate the happy couple's matrimony.
 

The Cast

Musicians, servants, soldiers,

police officers, a notary

Setting

Andrew Altenbach (Associate Conductor-in-residence)

 – conducts April 12, 15, 18 (matinee)

Andrew Altenbach is the Associate conductor of The Minnesota Opera and head conductor of the St. Paul Chamber Players. He recently conducted Die Entführung aus dem Serail with The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in the pit. Recent guest conducting includes The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Brevard Music Center Orchestra, The Minnesota Opera Orchestra and the Twin Cities Musical Offering Series. Mr. Altenbach conducts the St. Cloud Symphony in February and is associate conductor of Central City Opera in Colorado, where he conducts performances of Lucia di Lammermoor and Rinaldo this summer. He recently returned from The Santa Fe Opera, where he was a pianist and assistant conductor to principal conductor, Edo de Waart.

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Mr. Altenbach studied conducting and piano at Northwestern University and Indiana University. His teachers are Victor Yampolsky, Alan Chow, Karen Shaw, and David Effron.

As an opera conductor, Mr. Altenbach has led performances with The Minnesota Opera, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Opera on the James, the Chatauqua Vocal program and Indiana University Opera Theatre. He has assisted at the prestigious Santa Fe Opera, Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, Music Academy of the West and Cincinnati Opera.

Equally at home in the symphonic realm, Mr. Altenbach has led performances with The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Minnesota Opera Orchestra, Bloomington Symphony, Brevard Music Festival Orchestra, Indiana University Symphony and Chamber Orchestras and Northwestern University Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. He is head conductor of the St. Paul Chamber Players and was music director of the North Shore Chamber Orchestra in the Chicago area.

Mr. Altenbach has assisted Edo de Waart, Harry Bicket, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Ari Pelto, Giovanni Reggioli, David Effron, Stefan Lano, Richard Buckley and Timothy Muffitt.

He now resides in the Twin Cities with his wife, Julia.

Brad Benoit (Almaviva)

Matt Boehler (Don Basilio)

– performs April 11, 14, 16, 18 (evening), 19 (matinee)

"Once the lights go down, you'll be deeply grateful for your new acquaintance with Matt Boehler. He is quite simply a marvel as Sweeney, the demon barber of Fleet Street ... Imposingly tall and possessed of a supple, clarion bass, the young singer delivers a thrillingly expressive performance ..."  

– The Washington Post, 2005

Hailed by The Washington Post as "an extraordinarily charismatic performer," Mr. Boehler has been critically acclaimed for his dramatic ability and his "supple, clarion bass." With Wolf Trap Opera Company, Mr. Boehler garnered much praise in the title role of Sweeney Todd. The Washington Post raved, "There are times, in fact, when this young man with a huge crossover career ahead of him is standing in a crowd of actors, and you'd swear he was the only person onstage."

In the 2007-08 season Mr. Boehler had two opportunities to perform Mozart's Leporello, which quickly is becoming a signature role for him, performing Don Giovanni with Opera Lyra Ottawa and Chicago Opera Theater. He also made his debuts with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Pooh Bah in The Mikado and with the New York Festival of Song in the world premieres of two one-acts, Bastianello and Lucrezia, by John Musto and William Bolcom. He was seen in Monteverdi's Return of Ulysses (Greenwich Music Festival,) Salome (Florentine Opera) and in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Festival Lyrique-en-mer.) In concert, he was heard in Mozart's Requiem and Vesperae solennes de confessore, as well as Stravinsky's Pulcinella. Engagements for 2008-2009 include Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia with The Minnesota Opera, and Spencer Coyle in Owen Wingrave with Chicago Opera Theater. In concert he will be seen in his debut with the New York Philharmonic in Elektra, with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for Bernstein's Mass, with Musica Sacra as Christus in Bach's St. John Passion, and with New York Choral Society for the bass solos in the Messiah.

Recent roles that have showed Mr. Boehler's versatility include Leporello in the multimedia opera project Don Juan in Prague (Prague Estates Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music) and the Abbot in Britten's Curlew River (Japan Society.) He has been seen recently in Roméo et Juliette and Telemann's Orpheus (Wolf Trap Opera Company,) and in Samson et Dalila (Hawaii Opera Theater.) As a graduate of the Juilliard Opera Center, he was seen as Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream as well as Kecal in The Bartered Bride. A Minnesota native, Mr. Boehler held a three-year tenure as a resident artist with The Minnesota Opera, appearing in numerous roles including Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Njegus in The Merry Widow, Colline in La bohéme, and Il frate in Don Carlos. At Viterbo University, his first alma mater, he was featured in several opera, musical theatre and straight roles while completing his B.A. in Theatre Arts.

Frequently engaged on the concert platform, he has been heard with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in Bach's Magnificat, with Oratorio Society of New York in Charpentier's Te Deum and in Mozart's Mass in C-minor and Thamos with National Chorale. He has also bowed with Minnesota Orchestra in their presentation of Amahl and the Night Visitors.

Mr. Boehler has had success in several competitions, winning prizes in the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition, the National Opera Association's competition and the Midwest Region of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He is a three-time first prizewinner of the Schubert Club vocal competition and a recipient of a Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation. 

John David Boehr (Figaro)

 – performs April 12, 15, 18 (matinee)

Mr. Boehr has sung roles with The Palm Beach Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, The Tanglewood Music Festival, The Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Fairbanks, Austin Lyric Opera and The Minnesota Opera. He returns to The Minnesota Opera in 2009 to sing the role of Figaro in its production of The Barber of Seville. Mr. Boehr has been establishing himself as a wonderful singer of Rossini operas. In 2008, he performed Dandini in La Cenerentola with both Austin Lyric Opera and also with Opera Fairbanks. For the summer seasons of 2006 and 2007, Mr. Boehr sang with the Santa Fe Opera as a member of the prestigious Apprentice Artist program. Further to his association with The Santa Fe Opera, in the spring of 2007, he was chosen to sing the role of Carlo in The Santa Fe Opera's premiere of a new work by John Kennedy entitled Trinity. He has also performed on The Santa Fe Opera's Christmas concert series in 2006 which toured New Mexico and west Texas. Other opera roles from 2005 to 2007 have included the role of Osmano in the Pittsburgh Opera's production of L'Ormindo; Sciarrone in Tosca and the notary in Don Pasquale with the Palm Beach Opera; and the role of Masetto in the Tanglewood production of Don Giovanni, conducted by James Levine. Earlier roles have included Bob in The Old Maid and the Thief with Salado Opera; Papageno in The Magic Flute, Giovanni Beletti in Libby Larson's Barnum's Bird, Belcore in The Elixir of Love, and Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with the Baylor Opera Theater. Mr. Boehr received his Bachelor of Music degree from Baylor University, where he studied under Dr. Jon Van Cura. Mr. Boehr has won numerous prizes at vocal competitions sponsored by the Dallas Opera Guild, Palm Beach Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Council Southwest Regional Auditions, among others.

Julie Boulianne (Rosina)

 – performs April 12, 15, 18 (matinee)

Winner of the Prix Lyrique Français, French-Canadian Julie Boulianne has been acclaimed for the agility and expressive power of her dark-hued mezzo-soprano in a wide repertoire, with a special focus on the music of Mozart and Rossini. Possessing a voice The New York Times calls "subtle and pure," she distinguished herself in the role of Isolier in Rossini's Le Comte Ory while still a member of the Juilliard Opera Center.

Julie Boulianne opened the 2008–2009 season at Aspen Opera Theater in the title role of Rossini's La Cenerentola, a role she reprises for debuts at Florida Grand Opera and Glimmerglass Opera during the season. She sang Berlioz's Les nuits d'été with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and L'Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, debuts at The Minnesota Opera as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia and presents recitals under the auspices of the New York Festival of Song.

Julie Bouliane has appeared frequently at Montreal Opera and Quebec Opera in roles such as Rosina, Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette, Nicklausse in Les contes d'Hoffmann, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, both Cherubino and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro, and the title roles in Hänsel und Gretel and Dido and Aeneas. She has also performed extensively in France, including Barbarina and the Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte at L'Opéra de Reims, Zerlina at L'Opéra d'Avignon and Barbarina at L'Opéra de Tours. She made her U.S. debut in 2006 at Nashville Opera in the title role of Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges, and subsequently sang Isolier in Le Comte Ory and Mrs. Soames in the New York premiere of Ned Rorem's Our Town at the Juilliard Opera Center.

In addition to her operatic work, Julie Boulianne has a flourishing concert career, and is a regular guest of symphony orchestras including L'Orchestre de la Francophonie Canadienne, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, L'Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Les Violons du Roy. She has recorded for Chaîne Culturelle de Radio-Canada, Radio France and on the Naxos label.

A graduate of McGill University's Schulich School of Music, Julie Boulianne won the first prize in both the Canadian Music Competition and the Joy of Singing Competition in New York. She has also been awarded the International Vocal Arts Institute's Silverman Prize, and in 2007, the Prix de la Chambre des Directeurs for Most Promising Career at the Concours International de Chant de Montréal.

Bryan Boyce (Don Basilio)

 – performs April 12, 15, 18 (matinee)

Bryan Boyce is a native of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. He has performed in the Twin Cities with Theatre Latté Da (Colline in La bohème and Olin Blitch in Susannah), Theatre de la Jeune Lune (the titles role in Figaro and Don Juan Giovanni) and with the Minnesota Orchestra and The Minnesota Opera. Mr. Boyce has spent three seasons in the Central City Opera's young artist program performing various comprimario roles and most recently covering Leporello in Don Giovanni. This past year he has toured with Theatre de la Jeune Lune's opera re-imaginings to Cambridge, MA (American Repertory Theatre) and Berkeley, CA (Berkeley Repertory Theatre). This season at The Minnesota Opera his roles will include the Old Gypsy in Il trovatore, Pantalone and the Drum Maker in The Adventures of Pinocchio and Don Basilio in the alternate cast of The Barber of Seville. Boyce has won scholarships from the Schubert Club in 2001 and 2004 and was a recipient of an encouragement award at the Minnesota District Metropolitan Opera Auditions in 2007.    

Nathan Brian (Fiorello; Sergeant)

Baritone Nathan Brian enjoys a versatile career as a performer of opera, operetta, oratorio and musical theater. He has experience in premiering new works as well as performing signature baritone roles. His performances include signature leading roles such as Dandini in La Cenerentola, Marcello inLa bohème, Albert in Werther and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte. Nathan has performed the title role in Tartuffe under the direction of Kay Castaldo, Andy Warhol in Michael Daugherty’s Jackie O, Mr. Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor under the direction of Lorna Haywood, Ottone in a new production ofL’incoronazione di Poppea and the lead role in Nancy Van de Vate’s opera,Where the Cross is Made, an award winning premiere at the National Opera Association convention. He also performed an abridged version of the opera as part of the Kennedy Center Conservatory Project. Recently, Nathan performed with the Sarasota Opera as Dudarz in Halka (sung in Polish) and Yamadori in Madama Butterfly.  

Nathan has been equally successful in operetta and musical theater. Operetta roles include the title role in The Mikado, Carmagnola in The Brigands and Rene in The Vagabond King. The Brigands and The Vagabond King can both be heard on recent recordings by Albany Records. Also, Nathan received the Top Male Prize at the Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition. Mr. Brian’s experience in musical theater is equally impressive. Roles include Christ in Godspell, Freddy in My Fair Lady, Maximilian in Candide, Billy in Anything Goes and Anthony in Sweeney Todd.  Nathan has also found great success on the concert stage. Recent solo oratorio work includes Carmina burana with Johannesburg Symphony Chorus in South Africa, Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio with the International Symphony Orchestra, Seven Last Words of Christ with Heritage Symphony, Faure’s Requiem with Legacy Chorale and numerous performances of Handel’s Messiah and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Recital work includes the western United States premiere of Ned Rorem’s 36 Song Cycle, Evidence of Things Not Seen, Montsalvatge’s Cinco Canciones Negras, Simon Sargon’s A Clear Midnight and Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch.  Nathan has performed with Sarasota Opera, the Utah Lyric Opera, Johannesburg Symphony Chorale, Heritage Symphony, Billings Symphony, Murray Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the International Symphony Orchestra, Legacy Chorale and Symphony, Pine Mountain Music Festival, Lehigh Symphony and the Ohio Light Opera.  Originally from Minneapolis, Nathan began performing at a young age. Growing up, he was trained as a musician as well as a dancer and actor. After receiving an undergraduate degree from the University of Utah and a graduate degree from the University of Michigan, Nathan returned to live in the Twin Cities in the fall of 2007 and recently was seen as Amelia’s Servant in The Minnesota Opera’s A Masked Ball and Pâris in Romeo and Juliet.

Octavio Cardenas (assistant director)

Octavio Cardenas joins The Minnesota Opera's Resident Artist Program after having served as assistant director for productions of Così fan tutte and La traviata for Chautauqua Opera and Die Fledermaus at Austin Lyric Opera. He has also directed productions of Plump Jack, The Impresario, and The Elixir of Love and assisted on The Turn of the Screw and La chute de la maison Uscher for Butler Opera Center. Other directing credits include The Elixir of Love for Guadalajara Opera.

Mr. Cardenas is also a talented singer and actor, having performed in the films‘Til parole do us part, Bottom Feeders and Gemini Friday; in the plays Beaux Stratagem (Scrub), Fashion (Mr. Twinkle), Summertime (Edmund), Orestes 2.0 (Forensic/Phrygian), Dream Play (the Lawyer), 4 a.m. (Doc) and Butterfly Kiss(Ross Sloan); and having sung the roles of Strephon in Iolanthe for the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Shreveport, Sciarrone in Tosca for Shreveport Opera, Marquese d'Orbigny in La traviata and Cascada in The Merry Widow for Guadalajara Opera and Vuzzachio in L'infedelta fedele and Beto in Gianni Schicchifor USC Opera. Mr. Cardenas holds a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from the Centenary College of Louisiana, a Master of Fine Arts in acting from UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and is a candidate for a DMA in opera directing from the University of Texas at Austin.

Matthew Lau (Dr. Bartolo)

  – performs April 12, 15, 18 (matinee)

Allyson McHardy (Rosina)

– performs April 11, 14, 16, 18 (evening), 19 (matinee)

Mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy, "a singer of enormous imagination and versatility, sang a lustrous and energetic Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia)" according to the San Francisco Chronicle's Joshua Kosman, who continued his praise noting that "the inventive twists and turns in her highly ornamented account of the opening 'Una voce poco fa' were superb." Her triumph as Rosina followed her acclaimed portrayal of Olga in San Francisco Opera's Eugene Onegin. The striking mezzo-soprano made her debut with New York City Opera as Marchesa Melibea in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims and recent concert engagements have included Messiah for the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Elijah in Montreal, Les nuits d'été in Bielefeld, Germany and Alexander Nevsky for Orchestra London.

Ms. McHardy's 2008-2009 season includes Messiah with the Toronto Symphony (Noel Edison) and in Toulouse appears as Phèdre in a rare staging of Hippolyte et Aricie conducted by Emmanuelle Haim. Minnesota Opera patrons hear her in May 2009 as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and she returns to Vancouver Opera for a reprise of Olga in Eugene Onegin.

The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, the Canadian Opera Company's new home, opened in September 2006 with Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen and Ms. McHardy reprised her roles in Die Walküre (Rossweisse) and in Das Rheingold and Die Götterdämmerung (Flosshilde) during these inaugural performances. Following Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia in San Francisco, she made her role debut as Dalila in Samson et Dalila for Opera Ontario and on the concert stage, she was soloist in Israel in Egypt for Les Violons du Roy. She has recorded the title role in Caldara's La conversione di Clodoveo, re di Francia (earlier performed in Berlin, Montreal and Vancouver) for ATMA and is in the midst of an enormous project featuring the music of the Ukrainian composer Lysenko.

In the fall of 2007, she was in France for Isabella in L'italiana in Algeri in Lille, Amiens and Caen followed in the winter of 2008 by the role of Olga in Eugene Onegin for the Canadian Opera Company. Later in 2008, she was soloist with the Edmonton Symphony and Quebec's Les Violons du Roy, conducted in both instances by Bernard Labadie.

Some highlights of earlier seasons include Solange in The Maids and the Drummer Girl in The Emperor of Atlantis for Cincinnati Opera, a solo concert for San Francisco's Schwabacher Recital Series and Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream for Chicago Opera Theater.

Ms. McHardy was Carmela in La vida breve at Tanglewood with Frühbeck de Burgos and debuted with the Minnesota Orchestra in Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc conducted by Helmuth Rilling. She recorded two works by Harry Somers, Serinette and A Mid-winter Night's Dream, after live performances for Soundstreams with the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus. She was also featured in From Rags to Riches: 100 Years of American Song with Steven Blier.

Some concert highlights include Concepción in L'heure espagnole under the baton of Seiji Ozawa at Tanglewood, Henze's Venus und Adonis at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and La vida breve under Frühbeck de Burgos with the Boston Symphony in Boston. Ms. McHardy has appeared for the Calgary Opera as Mercédès in Carmen, Zerlina in Don Giovanni for Arizona Opera and Dido in Dido and Aeneas for the Amherst Early Opera Institute in Massachusetts. Other roles in her repertoire include Giunone in La calisto, Polinesso in Ariodante and Jocasta in Oedipus Rex. In concert, she has been heard with the Hamilton Philharmonic, Victoria Symphony, Toronto Sinfonia, Toronto's Opera in Concert and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Born in Oshawa, Ontario, she studied voice at Wilfrid Laurier University, earning an Honors Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance and an Opera Diploma. She is an alumna of the Merola Program at the San Francisco Opera the Ensemble Studio of the Canadian Opera Company.

Allen Moyer (set designer)

Broadway: Thurgood; Grey Gardens (Tony Nomination); Little Dog Laughed; The Constant Wife; Twelve Angry Men (also current National Tour); In My Life; Reckless; The Man Who Had All the Luck; A Thousand Clowns. Off-Broadway: From Up Here; The New Century; Grey Gardens (Drama Desk Nomination); Mr. Marmalade; Landscape of the Body; A Few Stout Individuals; Lobby Hero; Entertaining Mr. Sloane; The Dazzle; This Is Our Youth; Well; As Bees in Honey Drown. Opera: Orfeo ed Euridice at the Metropolitan Opera; La bohème, Il trittico, The Mother of Us All; Don Pasquale and Il viaggio a Reims at New York City Opera; The Grapes of Wrath [The Minnesota Opera (world premiere)]; The Abduction from the Seraglio at Houston Grand Opera; The Elixir of Love at Opera Colorado; Lucia di Lammermoor at Theater St. Gallen, Falstaff, Agrippina, Daphneand Così fan tutte at Santa Fe Opera; Orfeo at Glimmerglass; Nixon in China at Cincinnati Opera; and The Marriage of Figaro, Radamisto, Miss Havisham's Fire, Lucia di Lammermoor and I puritani at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Additional work at Seattle Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera and Scottish Opera. Ballet/Dance: Romeo and Juliet: On Motifs of Shakespeare with the Mark Morris Dance Group at the Bard Summerfest and the Barbican Center and Sylvia with Mark Morris for the San Francisco Ballet. Awards: 2006 Obie for Sustained Excellence in Set Design.

Recent projects include The Count of Monte Cristo at Theater St. Gallen, The Ghosts of Versailles at Opera Theater of St. Louis and Il trittico for San Francisco Opera.

Kevin Newbury (stage director)

Recent New York: Bernstein's Mass (Carnegie Hall, United Palace, also Baltimore and Kennedy Center), Candy & Dorothy (GLAAD winner), The Second Tosca, The Eumenides, The Black Monk, Kiss & Cry and concerts at Joe's Pub, Birdland and Ars Nova. Recent opera credits: Falstaff (Santa Fe Opera), Il trovatore and The Marriage of Figaro (The Minnesota Opera), The Magic Flute (Houston Grand Opera and Opera Colorado), Nixon in China (Revival Director: Minnesota, Chicago, Portland, Cincinnati). Upcoming: Roberto Devereux, Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda (The Minnesota Opera), La Cenerentola (Glimmerglass Opera), The Italian Straw Hat (Wexford Opera Festival), Eugene Onegin (Opera Theatre of St. Louis), Mass (European Tour), La bohème and An Inspector from Rome (Wolf Trap Opera).  Education: Bowdoin College, Oxford University. 

Victor Ryan Robertson (Count Almaviva)

American tenor Victor Ryan Robertson encompasses a versatile singing ability and style allowing him to cross between genres from classical and contemporary classical repertoire to pop and broadway. He recently received acclaim for a concert with the Richard Tucker Foundation and the Cleveland Opera called "Night of the Rising Stars."The Cleveland Plain-Dealer said that "Alfredo in the Traviata excerpt was tenor Victor Ryan Robertson, who was buoyant here and even better in the Rigoletto quartet and especially in "Kleinzach!" from Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann. His voice is fresh, his personality alive."

He recently debuted at the Royal Albert Hall in London as Rodolfo in Francesca Zambello's production of La bohème to wide acclaim. The Guardian says he "offers an appealing, well-defined tenor with plenty of energy." The Independent praised his "dashing Rodolfo ... he delivers body and soul." In addition, Mr. Robertson received critical acclaim as Rodolfo in Baz Luhrman's adaptation of Puccini's La bohème at The Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles to a record 82 consecutive sold-out shows.

In the 2008-2009 season and beyond, he performs Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with The Minnesota Opera, Opera Carolina and Arizona Opera, Fenton in Falstaff with Opera Cleveland, a concert tour with Opera Express in Shanghai and with the Honolulu Symphony, and a Pavarotti Tribute concert with the Sunshine Pops. In the summer 2008, he performed Ramiro in La Cenerentola with Spoleto Festival U.S.A., and Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess with the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

In the recent 2007-2008 season, he performed Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni with Opera Carolina, Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess with Dallas Opera, Prunier in La rondine with Michigan Opera Theatre, and off-broadway performances of 3 Mo' Tenors in New York City. In the 2006-2007 season, Mr. Robertson debuted the role of Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Michigan Opera Theatre and with the PORT Opera Festival, made his debut with the Los Angeles Opera as Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess, and performed Tybalt and Romeo (cover) in Roméo et Juliette with Atlanta Opera.

Additional recent engagements include his debut with the Dallas Opera in title role performances in Les contes d'Hoffmann, Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette with Spoleto Festival U.S.A., Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Michigan Opera Theatre, Tybalt and Romeo (cover) in Roméo et Juliette with Atlanta Opera, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and his debut as Alfredo in La traviata in New York.  Since his operatic debut as Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore with Tri-Cities Opera, he has returned to the company to perform the Duke in Rigoletto, Tonio in La fille du régiment, Rodolfo in La bohème, Kasper in Amahl and the Night Visitors and Ferrando in Così fan tutte, which critics praised for his "touching and note-perfect beauty."

Naomi Isabel Ruiz (Berta)

A native of Port Orchard, Washington, soprano Naomi Isabel Ruiz earned a Performer Diploma and a Master of Music in Voice Performance from Indiana University, where she studied with Patricia Wise. While a student at IU, Ms. Ruiz appeared with the Indiana University Opera Theatre as Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Antonia in A Wedding by Willam Bolcom. Additionally, she performed Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte under the guidance of Martina Arroyo and was seen in IU Opera Workshop productions directed by Carol Vaness. During her final year at IU, she taught voice class as an Associate Instructor. In 2007, she performed as a semifinalist in the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition, was an IU Travel Grant Competition Award winner and won first place in the Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Competition. Through Mu Phi Epsilon, Ms. Ruiz was awarded a 2007 Summer Scholarship and a 2006 International Brena Hazzard Voice Scholarship.

In the summer of 2007, Ms. Ruiz performed Mimì in La bohème with the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center. The summer of 2005, she was seen as Ännchen in Der Freischütz and Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites in BASOTI opera scene productions. Ms. Ruiz participated in the master class of Patricia Wise at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria in the summer of 2004. This summer, she was selected to participate in Timothy Noble's Charlie Creek Vocal Workshop.

As a McNair Scholar, Ms. Ruiz graduated cum laude with a BM in Choral Music Education from Central Washington University. While studying at CWU, she performed in newly composed one-act operas, including Obassan in Sedge Hats, the title role in Soul Catcher, and in many opera scenes as well as the title role in Cinderella with Valley Musical Theatre.

As a first-year member of The Minnesota Opera Resident Artist Program, Ms. Ruiz performed Ines in Il trovatore by Verdi, Rosaura in The Adventures of Pinocchio by Dove, Berta in The Barber of Seville and covered the role of Marguerite in Gounod's Faust. Next season she returns to sing Barbara in Casanova's Homecoming, Musetta in La bohème and the Slave Girl in Salome as well as cover the role of Leïla in The Pearl Fishers. This summer, Ms. Ruiz will be a Des Moines Metro Opera young artist.

Dale Travis (Dr. Bartolo)

 – performs April 11, 14, 16, 18 (evening), 19 (matinee) 

After almost 25 years of singing professionally, bass-baritone Dale Travis has become one of the most sought after singing actors in America today. With a vast repertoire encompassing over 50 roles in a wide variety of styles from Mozart, Donizetti, and Rossini to Strauss, Puccini, Janacek, and Wagner, Mr. Travis has been a frequent guest artist at the most prestigious opera companies in the United States and abroad. 2008 engagements included his definitive portrayals of Geronte di Ravoir in Manon Lescaut with maestro James Levine at the Metropolitan Opera (seen on live HD simulcast), Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love with the San Francisco Opera and the Boston Lyric Opera, Daland in The Flying Dutchman with Opera Colorado, the Sacristan in Tosca with Los Angeles Opera and Harasta in The Cunning Little Vixen with Seiji Ozawa at his Saito Kinen Music Festival in Matsumoto, Japan. The 2009-2010 season features appearances with companies with which he has had wonderful artistic relationships – The Lyric Opera of Chicago (22 roles since 1994) in Tosca, The Merry Widow and The Elixir of Love; the Santa Fe Opera (12 roles since 1992) in Albert Herring and The Magic Flute; and San Francisco Opera (25 roles since 1989) in Tosca, La traviata and The Merry Widow.  
 
A versitile artist, Mr. Travis is most recognized as one of the premiere basso-buffo artists of the day, stemming from his studying and working with three of the greatest artists of the 20th century in that repertoire – Italo Tajo at the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, and with Paolo Montarsolo and Renato Capecchi at the San Francisco Opera. Dale's work in highly dramatic repertoire is widely praised as well, with wonderfully detailed portrayals not only on display in the United States, but also in Europe with appearances at the Teatro Regio in Turino, Théätre du Capitole in Toulouse, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, the New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv and the Komische Oper in Berlin, to name a few.
 
Mr. Travis can be heard on EMI Classics with The Metropolitan Opera DVD of Puccini's Manon Lescaut, the EMI Classics CD of Weills' Die Burgschaft with Julius Rudel at Spoletto Festival U.S.A, Todd Machover's Resurrection with Houston Grand Opera on Albany Records and on London Records in Strauss' Capriccio with the San Francisco Opera. 

James Westman (Figaro)

 – performs April 11, 14, 16, 18 (evening), 19 (matinee) 

"Westman is one of Canada's most promising opera singers, with a lush, soaring, flexible voice that equips him to be a Verdi and Puccini baritone and therefore heir to some of the most coveted roles in opera." – Paula  Citron, The Globe and Mail

Internationally acclaimed Canadian baritone James Westman, "acts as impressively as he sings, stealing the show." – London Financial Times, Nov. 1, 2005.

Whether performing in song, concert or opera throughout the world, Westman remains vigilant in his passion for healing and exploring human nature.

Formerly a successful boy treble, Mr. Westman toured with the American Boys Choir, the Paris Boys Choir and the Vienna Boys Choir. Known as Jamie Westman, he was the first boy ever to perform the fourth movement of Mahler's Symphony No. 4 (Child's View of Heaven) and toured this work with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra in Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, East and West Germany and Russia, performing in the Musikverein, Roy Thompson Hall and Carnegie Hall at the young age of twelve.

Mr. Westman was baritone-in-residence with the prestigious San Francisco Opera Adler Fellowship program until March 2000. His critically acclaimed performances at the San Francisco Opera include Guglielmo (Così fan tutte); Marcello (La bohème); Silvio (Pagliacci); Germont (La traviata); Renato (Un ballo in Maschera); Sid (Albert Herring); and the First Philosopher (Louise).

Since being an Adler Fellow, this young Verdi-baritone has performed the leading roles of Verdi, Puccini, Massenet, Donizetti, Janacek, Bizet, Britten and Mozart for many principal opera houses in North America and Europe including: the Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe, Montreal,Calgary, English National Opera, Los Angeles, San Francisco Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Wexford Festival Ireland, Graz,  Cologne and others.

His debut with the English National Opera will mark his 100th professional performance of his calling card role Germont from Verdi's La traviata. "Westman is 31, but he sings with maturity and power, and his second-act duet with Harteros is one of the highlights of the show." – Pam Kragen, North County Times.

James Westman thrives at art song repertoire in many different styles and genres. He has preformed recitals for The Marilyn Horne Foundation, The George London Foundation, The Aldeburgh Connection, the Canadian Arts and Letters Club, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Stratford Summer Music Festival, the Schawbacher Debut Recital Series, the Michigan Chamber Music Society, the Lanaudière Festival, the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyrique, the Wexford Festival, Ireland and the Symposiast's of Toronto Society, to name a few.

His success on the concert stage since he was eight years of age continues to blossom, performing with many of the world's leading orchestras. He has sung Handel's Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra,  San Francisco Symphony, National Arts Orchestra, Ottawa, Vancouver Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Detroit Symphony, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra. He performed Carmina burana with the Cleveland Orchestra; Berlioz' seldom performed Roméo et Juliette with the Edmonton Symphony and the Toronto Symphony; and Mendlessohn's Elijah and Bach's Mass in B Minor with the Vancouver Symphony. He has performed solo gala concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony and the Brantford Symphony.

As a credit to his success, Mr. Westman has never placed less than first place among all international competitions in which he participated; including the George London Competition (1997), the D'angelo Competition (1997), the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyrique (1996) and the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation (1999). In June 1999, he was a finalist and the audience favorite award at the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.

Previous season performances  include Marcello in Puccini's La bohème for the New York City Opera and Santa Fe Opera; Germont in Verdi's La traviata for the English National Opera and Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Talbot in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda for the Dallas Opera; Frédéric in Delibes' Lakmé for the Opéra de Montréal; Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen for the Calgary Opera; Messiah with the Kitchener Waterloo Philharmonic Choir; Dvorak's Stabat mater with the Chicago Symphony, Bach's Concert for Thirteen Strings, Ottawa; and recording the role of Bonifacio Gieremei in Donizetti's Imelda de' Lambertazzi for Opera Rara, England. Mr. Westman shared an Opera Gala with Denyce Graves at the National Arts Orchestra in Ottawa. He performed at Houston Grand Opera's 50th-anniversary gala with Sir Elton John, Bryn Terfel, Frederica Von Stade and Renée Fleming, hosted by Sir Roger Moore.

Upcoming season appearances include Marcello in Puccini's La bohème for Opera Pacifac; Renato in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera; Belcore in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore for Boston Lyric Opera; Sharpless in Puccini's Madama Butterfly for L'Opéra de Montréal and Chicago Lyric Opera; Faure's Requiem with the Florida Orchestra; Handel's Messiah for the Grand Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra; recording the title role of Ricci's Corrado d'Altamura for Opera Rara, and recording English, American and Canadian songs on CD for Sony BMG, England with Stuart Bedford.

James Westman has studied with such renowned artists as Dame Joan Sutherland, Richard Bonynge, Renato Capecchi, Paul Esswood, John F.M. Wood, Carl Duggan, Louis Marshall, Régine Crespin, Warren Jones, Martin Katz, Virginia Zeani, Marlena Malas, Theadore Uppman Diane Forlano, Marilyn Horne and currently studies with Patricia Kern.

D. M. Wood (Lighting Designer)

Credits include Die Zauberflöte (Houston Grand Opera), La traviata (Opera Colorado), The Sound of a Voice and Hotel of Dreams (Long Beach Opera), Die Zauberflöte (Opera Colorado), Il viaggio a Reims  (New York City Opera), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Lyric Opera of Kansas City), Tosca (Canadian Opera Company), La Cleopatra and Oedipus Rex (Opernhaus - Graz, Austria), Tristan und Isolde  (Savonlinna Opera Festival, Finland), Les Misérables (New Production: Tour of Denmark) and the transfer designs of Simon Boccanegra and L'incoronazione di Poppea  (New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv).

Ms. Wood has also designed for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Charleston Ballet Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Primary Stages NYC, Baltimore CenterStage, The Minneapolis Children's Theatre Company, NYSF/The Public Theater, Trinity Repertory Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company and the American Repertory Theatre.

Upcoming projects include: Romance (American Repertory Theatre) and La Cenerentola (Glimmerglass Opera).

Robert Wood (conductor)

 – conducts April 11, 14, 16, 18 (evening), 19 (matinee) 

"Robert Wood's conducting packed considerable punch. He fired up the Rossini crescendos to fever pitch, but also let lyrical lines spin along with extra sweetness." – Opera News (2006)

Conductor Robert Wood has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for his "sprightly, precise" interpretation of L'italiana in Algeri at the San Francisco Opera. Mr. Wood made his debut at the same house in 2004, leading performances of La traviata, and subsequently appeared at the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco leading a concert with Stephanie Blythe, Lawrence Brownlee and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. In his collaborations with San Francisco Opera, Mo. Wood assisted numerous productions there, including La bohème, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Don Carlos, Hansel and Gretel, The Merry Widow and Tosca. 

In the 2006-2007 season, Mo. Wood assumed role of Resident Conductor for The Minnesota Opera where he led performances of La donna del lago starring Barry Banks, Maureen O'Flynn and Eva Podleś as well as Le nozze di Figaro and Lakmé.  In the 2007-2008 season, he conducted L'italiana in Algeri for The Minnesota Opera and Vancouver Opera, Rusalka for The Minnesota Opera, La Cenerentola for Opera New Jersey, The Abduction from the Seraglio for Hawaii Opera Theater, Il barbiere di Siviglia for The Minnesota Opera and The Love of Three Oranges at Indiana University. Mo. Wood has also appeared with the Wolf Trap Opera Company, conducting Le Comte Ory and The Magic Flute, and with Opera San José for Tosca, Faust, Manon, Carmen, L'elisir d'amore, Rigoletto and La bohème. His future engagements include concerts featuring the works of Jack Perla.

Other recent conducting engagements for Mo. Wood include H.M.S. Pinafore with the Indiana University Opera, a recording for ODC Dance in San Francisco of Jack Perla's On a Train Headed South, Die Zauberflöte with the Rimrock Opera in Montana and guest conductor with the San José Chamber Orchestra. During his years of collaboration with The Santa Fe Opera, Mr. Wood acted as cover conductor for Beatrice and Benedict, La belle Hélène, L'italiana in Algeri and Lucia di Lammermoor and held the position of chorusmaster there from 2001 to 2004. At Santa Fe Opera, he also received critical acclaim for the choral contribution to the world premiere of Bright Sheng's Madame Mao and the American premiere of Kaija Saariaho's L'amour de loin. Mr. Wood also served as chorusmaster for Opera Company of Philadelphia's production of Les pêcheurs de perles in 2004 and has appeared at Chicago Opera Theater and the Florida State Opera, where he conducted Gluck's Orfeo.

Mr. Wood was a 1998 Merola Opera Program and Western Opera Theater participant, and spent several years in Vienna studying voice and singing in the Arnold Schönberg Chor.

The Barber of Seville

Music by Gioachino Rossini

Libretto by Cesare Sterbini

after the play Le barbier de Séville by Pierre-Augustin-Caron de Beaumarchais

World premiere at the Teatro Argentina, Rome

February 20, 1816

In November 1815, Rossini was in Rome (on one of his excused absences from the Neapolitan theaters) to supervise a revival of Il turco in Italia and to write a new work, Torvaldo e Dorliska, for the Teatro Valle to open its Carnival season. He was approached by the rival Teatro Argentina with yet another commission. The new opera required both parties to work within a narrow timeframe - the Argentina was looking for a comic work to fill out its own winter season (the production had to be cast and ready by mid-February), and Rossini was expected back in Naples at any time. The contract was signed on December 15 with no specific subject in mind.

Jacopo Ferretti (later to be librettist for La Cenerentola) was initially selected to provide the text, but his product – a sentimental drama involving a typical love triangle – proved disappointing. Rossini turned to Cesare Sterbini, a librettist of less experience but one with whom he had just worked on Torvaldo. It is said to have been the composer's brainchild to set Beaumarchais' Le barbier de Séville, not a wholly original idea, as there were about six or seven treatments already on the market. Most notable of these was Giovanni Paisiello's Il barbiere di Siviglia, an exceedingly popular work from the 18th century that inspired Mozart to write his masterpiece on the playwright's sequel, Le mariage de Figaro. This was not an uncommon thing to do – many operas of the 18th and 19th centuries were different musical settings of the same text.Paisiello was still alive, however, and somewhat of a curmudgeon when it came to his colleagues. So Rossini took an extra precaution, writing the venerated composer and explaining that his intention was not to best the older man's cult favorite. Paisiello apparently had no objections, yet Sterbini and Rossini continued to play it safe by placing a "Notice to the Public" in their published libretto indicating their purpose was only to update Beaumarchais's play to modern tastes. They even gave their opera a new title: Almaviva, ossia L'inutile precauzione (Almaviva or The Useless Precaution).

The collaborators probably fooled no one as each of their variants seemed for the better. Paisiello's opera was cast in 18th-century courtly elegance, its music adhering to the Classical style, and its text revealing none of Beaumarchais's sassy impertinence. Though Rossini still downplayed some of the political overtones, he consistently one-upped the old master with his inborn wit and exuberance. (Rossini, like Beaumarchais, seemed to have breathed a little of his own personality into the character of Figaro.) One excellent example is Don Basilio's calumny aria, a perfect vehicle for the famous "Rossini crescendo" – slander first starts with a whisper, and with every repeated phrase adding greater instrumentation, eventually erupts like a thundering cannon. Rossini casts several of his numbers in the recently cultivated bel canto double aria – a slow section, often repeated and embellished to highlight the singer's beautiful tone, followed by a fast-moving cabaletta, intended to show off great vocal agility and brilliant technique. Yet Bartolo's Act ii arietta is fashioned in the style of Paisiello's era as an indicator of the good doctor's advanced age. And, of course, Rossini's ebullient orchestration and quick pace made a vast improvement on Paisiello's otherwise serene and stodgy score, cautiously accented by an occasional wind player.

In accordance with the theatrical demands of the day, composition went swiftly, but the Argentina's impresario, Duke Sforza-Cesarini, was beset with his own problems. He had inherited the theater from his ancestors and it continually lost money. There was no help from the papal government, which frowned upon theatrical entertainment, pronouncing Rome a "city of churches." They did stipulate the Argentina was now to do comedy –formerly it was restricted to opera seria on a grand scale, with star singers and lavish sets – and this might have saved Sforza-Cesarini some money. Still, the poor Duke, overwhelmed with stress, died of a stroke two weeks before Barber's premiere. All of these ills would bear down on the fateful opening night.

Rossini worked well under pressure and churned out a lengthy score at an amazing rate. A closer examination reveals many borrowed melodies from previous works (a practice not unheard of in the opera industry of the era), including all the storm music from La pietra del paragone and motives for Rosina's first aria from Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra. The overture is another story. Apparently there had been an original work, based on Spanish folk songs, but it subsequently became detached from the autograph and disappeared. For later productions Rossini appropriated the overture from his recently produced Elisabetta, itself taken from Aureliano in Palmira. This is the popular orchestral work we know today.

The premiere of Il barbiere di Siviglia (as the work became known several months later, after Paisiello's death) is one for the history books, yet no one knows for certain what really happened. There's talk of open trapdoors and bloody noses, snarling cats and broken guitar strings, whistling and shouting (Roman audiences were not known for being docile theatergoers). It appears that the performance was disrupted by both supporters of Paisiello and those of the Teatro Valle who were upset because of the infringement on their comic repertoire. Though dramatically more interesting, the late placement of Rosina's "Una voce poco fa" didn't help matters much, as audiences expected the prima donna to sing her entrance aria on her first appearance. At the end of the first act Rossini applauded his singers for their perseverance (barely a note had been heard), but the audience members took the gesture as a disregard of their opinion. Act ii hardly went any better.

Not surprisingly, Rossini feigned illness for the second night (contractually he was to conduct the first three performances). With the rioters disbanded, the music could be heard and was immediately understood for the great masterpiece it would soon become. A surly mob surrounded Rossini's hotel and demanded to see the maestro so they could show their great appreciation. When he refused to come out, things turned ugly as they began throwing food and smashing windows. Apparently it was hard to please anyone in those days. ...    

Gioachino Rossini

b Pesaro, February 29, 1792; d Passy, November 13, 1868 

The most prominent Italian composer of the first half of the 19th century, Gioachino Rossini transformed the form and content of Italian opera. Though best known for his comic works – and for music that is sensuous, brilliant and rhythmically vital – Rossini’s contribution to stage works of mixed genres is equally important, making him Verdi’s most significant forerunner.

Born into the closely knit community of Pesaro, Italy, at a time of war and political upheaval in Europe, Rossini was brought up by parents who were both working musicians. His father, a horn player and teacher at Bologna’s prestigious Accademia Filarmonica, was also an ardent and outspoken Republican who was imprisoned briefly by the Austrians. Rossini’s mother, despite her lack of musical training, was a reasonably successful soprano. Rossini entered Bologna’s Liceo Musicale at the precocious age of 14 and began composing as early as 1802–03. Shortly after finishing his studies, he obtained a commission for a one-act farce, La cambiale di matrimonio, for the Venetian Teatro San Moisè. Further commissions from Venice yielded more successes, and by the time La pietra del paragone had premiered in 1812, the 20-year-old Rossini was without a doubt the leading composer in Italy. 

Rossini seemed equally confident in both serious and comic veins.Tancredi was a major landmark in opera seria and L’italiana in Algeri was the same for opera buffa – both were composed in 1813. In 1815 he had the good fortune to be secured by Domenico Barbaja, impresario for the Neapolitan theaters, and significantly developed his style and technique over the next seven years. One of the Teatro San Carlo’s assets was Isabella Colbran, a soprano who specialized in opera seria; as a result Rossini wrote many works specifically for her voice. She was to become his mistress and later his first wife.

Rossini’s contract with the Neapolitan theaters allowed him to accept commissions elsewhere on the Italian peninsula, but by 1822, the composer showed signs of his patience wearing thin; during the contract period he had written a total of 19 operas. The composer later quipped, “If he had been able to do so, Barbaja would have put me in charge of the kitchen as well.” 

Rossini was released from his Neapolitan contract that year. The Viennese tour that followed proved enormously successful for the composer, whose works were now familiar all over Europe. Returning to Italy, Rossini signed another contract with La Fenice in Venice for what would become one of his greatest and grandest opera serias, Semiramide.

With Italy and Austria conquered, Rossini turned his attention to France and England. A contract was signed in London, but it appears no opera was ever produced. In Paris Rossini accepted the directorship of the Théâtre Italien for two years (1824–26) and oversaw the remounting and revisions of a number of his works. For the coronation of Charles X, he composed a new opera, Il viaggio a Reims, and a year later he refashioned an earlier opera seria, Maometto II, into Le siège de Corinthe for the Paris Opéra. He would present three more works at that theater: Moise et Pharaon (reworked from the earlier Mosè in Egitto), Le Comte Ory(incorporating music from Il viaggio a Reims) and Guillaume Tell. Cast in the newly evolving form of French grand opéra, Guillaume Tell is a lengthy four-act work complete with ballet. It proved to be exceedingly popular (the opera had over 500 performances during Rossini’s lifetime); it was also Rossini’s last. He retired at age 37.

After a short return to Italy, Rossini found himself back in Paris pursuing a lifetime annuity granted by Charles X but revoked by the new government of Louis-Philippe. What was to be a short stay turned into six years of litigation, and while his wife and father remained at Isabella’s estate in Italy, Rossini formed a new romantic attachment with Olympe Pélissier. When his estranged wife died in 1846, they married soon after.

The Rossinis eventually set up house in an apartment on the Rue de la Chaussée d’Antin and also built a villa in the Paris suburb of Passy. The famous samedi soirs were initiated in 1858 – on Saturday evenings Rossini’s salon became a meeting place for composers, artists and friends. The evening would have a prearranged musical program, mostly of Rossini’s own compositions with the composer at the piano and many young singers making their debuts. The last occurred September 26, 1868; Rossini’s chronic ill health finally overcame him, and he died two months later. Rossini was buried in Paris’ Père Lachaise cemetery among the graves of his fellow composers Cherubini, Chopin and Bellini. In 1887 his remains were brought to the city of Florence – a procession of more than 6,000 mourners attended the re-internment in Santa Croce.

Suggested Listening

Merrill, Peters, Valletti, Tozzi, Corena, Marsh 

Leinsdorf, Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra

RCA Victor Living Stereo 68552

Horne, Nucci, Barbacini, Ramey, Dara, Pierotti, Chailly

Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala

Sony Classical S3K 37862

Larmore, Hagegard, Ramey, Gimenez, Corbelli, Malmberg, Lopez-Cobos

Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and Geneva Grand Theatre Chorus

Teldec 74885

Servile, Ganassi, Vargas, Romero, De Grandis, Kertesi, Humburg,

Hungarian Radio Chorus and Failoni Chamber Orchestra 

Naxos 660027    

Suggested Reading

Nicholas John (editor)

English National Opera Guide – No. 36: The Barber of Seville (includes libretto)

Riverrun Press

Herbert Weinstock

Gioachino Rossini: A Biography

Limelight Editions

Charles Osborne

The Bel Canto Operas

Amadeus Press

Pierre-Augustin-Caron de Beaumarchais

The Barber of Seville

Oberon Books Ltd. 

For More Information

A class devoted to The Barber of Seville will be held on Monday, March 30, 2009.

Special guest speaker will be Daniel Freeman, noted musicologist and lecturer.

Call 612-333-6669 for tickets.