(Photo: MOF)

Director Daniele Menghini returned to the Macerata Opera Festival (MOF) for this season’s revival of the 2022 production of Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia.” Dedicated to Director Graham Vick, this beloved and contemporary production tells the entertaining story of Italy’s modern man through the perspective of social media’s delusional gaze.

Conductor Jacopo Brusa led the FORM-Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana, Coro Lirico Marchigiano “Vincenzo Bellini,” and outstanding cast of singers including Ruzil Gatin as Count Almaviva, Marco Filippo Romano as Don Bartolo, Raffaella Lupinacci as Rosina, Grisha Martirosyan as Figaro, Riccardo Fassi as Don Basilio, Giulia Mazzola as Berta, and Valerio Morelli as Fiorello.

The creative team includes Set Designer Davide Signorini, Costume Designer Nika Campisi, Lighting Designer Simone de Angelis, Video Designer Stefano Teodori and Choreographer Livia Bartolucci.

(Photo: MOF)

Siviglia City Studios Presents F*cktotum

“We return to that ‘hellish forge’ of show business where we left the cameras four years ago. Figaro is the modern man; a contemporary reinvention of the servant of 18th-century comedy who has finally found a new master–show business itself,” said Director Daniele Menghini in the program notes. 

The stage was active even before the opera began with actors, actresses, media organizers, camera persons, and just a lot of personalities in general like on the set of a soap opera. The setting included a transparent balcony, on stage right, showcasing an array of baby pink Vogue magazine cover posters that lined the back wall next to a well-lit makeup vitrine as part of a hair dresser’s studio. The floor of the stage was interspersed with tied-down bright pink balloons that swayed back and forth in the night’s air. There was a high-end entertainment studio, “Siviglia City Studios,” stage set-up in the middle with a camera crew ready to broadcast a show about to start, “F*cktotum,” starring Figaro.

A media host was seen frantically talking in front of a camera while two screens on both sides of the stage were live with her camera feed. Her “red-heart-like-button” was blowing up with “likes” as her streaming video went viral. Her craze turned to madness and the video glitched as her popularity exploded before our eyes and someone carried her off stage.

The camera persons were busy getting the equipment aligned with placement for the other personalities to take center stage when all of a sudden, bass Valerio Morelli as Fiorello performed “Piano pianissimo.” Tenor Ruzil Gatin as Count Almaviva followed his lead with his aria, “Ecco ridente in cielo,” as he sang beneath the balcony about a young woman he has fallen in love with in Madrid. The camera crew followed his performance, zooming in extra to really capture his “crazy-eyed gaze,” and to maximize the effect of a selfie-image-obsessed-culture, his “like-button” flourished in response. He made “cutsie-heart” gestures in response to his gains and gave heightened emotional reactions in order to perpetuate his self-derived fame.

(Photo: MOF)

This back-and-forth style banter continued for the entire production and the audience was on the edge of their seats in laughter. There were young attendees in the audience who especially enjoyed all the action and over-the-top set designs plus videos. This production proved to be another success in the books for MOF.

Cast Highlights

Overall the singing was aligned with the production’s theme of overtly emotional and psychosis-driven personalities in flux between loving and hating one another. Bass Valerio Morelli as Fiorello and tenor Ruzil Gatin as Count Almaviva sang with ardency and portrayed their characters as honest as possible within this erratic environment.

Baritone Marco Filippo Romano as Don Bartolo was a major standout in his role as he generated the most laughs from the audience with his absurd personality and intelligent cadences. Romano’s acting was exquisite. His voice during “A un dottor della mia sorte” especially was enthusiastic and engaging.

Mezzo soprano Raffaella Lupinacci as Rosina was radiant in her famous aria, “Una voce poco fa.” Her voice fit the role perfectly and one could tell she was having a lot of fun. Baritone Grisha Martirosyan as Figaro was delightful in his MOF debut. His presence and excitement captivated the audience and his baritone voice during “Largo al factotum” was the highlight of the night.

Lupinacci and Martirosyan’s duet, “Dunque io son,” accented the opera’s drama as their facial expressions together were hilarious.

(Photo: MOF)

Bass Riccardo Fassi as Don Basilio performed his duet with Don Bartolo, “Ah! Barbiere d’inferno,” with excitement and ferver leading into his aria, “La calunnia è un venticello,” where his voice fully resonated.

Soprano Giulia Mazzola as Berta sounded lively when singing “Finora in questa camera” and “Il vecchiotto cerca moglie.” Marco Caudera as Ambrogio and Davide Filipponi as an Officer were part of this energetic cast as well.

The ending of the production was a surprising twist as Raffaella Lupinacci as Rosina decided against being trapped in a “guilded cage” and instead ran for her life off the stage and through the center aisle of the Sferisterio Arena’s audience. The camera persons did their best to follow her up until it showed her leaving the premise for good.