This week, in time for Valentine’s Day, the San Diego Opera is set to present “The Barber of Seville” featuring a cast of rising stars including Dean Murphy, who returns to the United States after eight years. The American baritone first debuted the role of Figaro 11 years ago at the Connecticut Lyric Opera in 2015 and has gone on {…}
The San Diego Opera is set to perform Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” at the San Diego Civic Theatre. The production, which is set to be performed on Feb. 13, 14 & 15, 2026 will star Dean Murphy as Figaro in his house debut, Stephanie Doche as Rosina, Minghao Liu as Count Almaviva, Patrick Carfizzi as Doctor Bartolo, Craig Colclough {…}
The Central City Opera has added a performance of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.” The company said that due to overwhelming demand for this year’s production, the additional performance will take place on July 31, 2025, at 2 p.m. In a statement, Adam Scurto, Managing Director of External Affairs at Central City Opera said, “The demand for this production has {…}
(Photo: Miklos Szabo) It is well known that the premiere night of “The Barber of Seville” was a resounding failure. A series of onstage mishaps, boos from the audience, and even a black cat crossing the stage forced Gioachino Rossini to flee the theater to avoid, in his own words, “being killed by the audience for their unbridled passion.” Yet {…}
(Photo credit: Keith Saunders) One of the benefits of reviewing operas is the opportunity to take guests whose experience of opera may be comparatively recent, and whose reactions are refreshingly unbound by preconceptions. At the end of scene one of Opera Australia’s “The Barber of Seville” at Sydney Opera House on Saturday January the 18th my guest on the night {…}
(Photo: “The Barber of Seville” debuted just over 200 years ago in Rome. The opera played to a jeering audience, a staged event where adherents of the composer Giovanni Paisiello – whose own version of the opera, “Il barbiere di Siviglia, ovvero La precauzione inutile” had pleased operagoers 20 years earlier – packed the house and catcalled throughout the premiere {…}
Elijah Moshinsky’s production of “The Barber of Seville” will return to the Sydney Opera House for its 30th anniversary season in January 2025. To celebrate the anniversary, Opera Australia is offering 30 tickets for only $30 each for every performance in its six-week run. The $30 ticket promotion is just one of many initiatives OA has implemented with the aim {…}
(Photo credit: Eric Woolsey) No matter the repertory selected, Opera Theatre Saint Louis’s (OTSL) 2024 season would have faced a significant challenge: following their memorable 2023 season and its refreshing inclusion of many singers of color. Surrounding a forgettable “Cosí Fan Tutte,” three productions made maximal artistic impact, including a fine “Tosca” starring Katie Van Kooten and Hunter Enoch as {…}
(Photo credit: Eric Woolsey) “The Barber of Seville” can be tough to sit through. Opera Theatre Saint Louis (OTSL) swam upstream furiously against the libretto’s banalities to produce an entertaining show, with standout performances from Justin Austin in the title role, and Hongni Wu as Rosina. In youth, I received as a gift the London/Decca recording featuring Leo Nucci as {…}
Baton Rouge’s Opéra Louisiane is set to present Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.” The opera, which is based on the play called “Le Barbier de Séville” by French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais, is the first of three plays about a character Figaro. For this production, the famed opera will star Scott Purcell as Figaro, and Hannah Ludwig as Rosina. They will {…}
Charles Court Opera is set to perform Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.” The opera will be performed from March 12 to March 23, 2024 with a cast that includes Nicholas Watts and Joseph Doody as Count Almaviva, Jonathan Eyers as Figaro, Samantha Price and Meriel Cunningham as Rosina, Matthew Kellett and Hugo Herman-Wilson as Don Basilio, Catrine Kirkman as Berta {…}