The Barber of Seville; Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Full Opera. G. Rossini. Subtitles: ITALIAN, ENGLISH.

The Barber of Seville (Il Barbiere di Siviglia). Italian opera buffa (1816}. Audio: Italian. Subtitles: ITALIANO – ENGLISH. Music: Gioachino Rossini. Libretto: Cesare Sterbini. Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, London. Star casting all over: Joyce DiDonato, Juan Diego Flórez, Pietro Spagnoli, Alessandro Corbelli, Ferruccio Furlanetto. Music Conductor: Antonio Pappano. The Queen of opera buffas, always loved by the public since its creation more than 200 years ago. Well, actually since its second representation only, because the first one was greatly disturbed by an unfriendly “claque“ devoted to Paisiello. NOTE: Juan Diego Flórez is one of the best tenors of our time, noted especially for the unique “bel canto“ qualities of his voice. DO NOT MISS another of his great performances in “Don Pasquale“ (Donizetti): WORK IN (SLOW) PROGRESS. 00:00:25 – Announcement by orchestra conductor, Antonio Pappano, that Joyce DiDonato has fallen and broken her foot the previous night, and will sing – and act – in a wheelchair. 00:02:50 – Overture/Sinfonia. ACT ONE. 00:10:00 – Scene 01. Count Almaviva’s servant, Fiorello, has hired musicians to serenade Rosina. Count Almaviva arrives and sings a serenade, but Rosina does not appear. The Count is comically embarrassed by his grateful musicians. 00:22:20 – Scene 02. Count Almaviva remains before Rosina’s house, still hoping to see her. Figaro arrives, and sings his famous “cavatina“: “Largo al factotum“, extolling the wonderful life of barbers. Count Almaviva recognizes Figaro, whom he had met already (???). Figaro supplies him information about Rosina and her tyrannical tutor, Don Bartolo. 00:29:50 – Scene 03. Rosina appears at her balcony. Her tutor surprises her, but she manages to drop a message for Almaviva, whose name she doesn’t yet know. Almaviva picks it up. – Scene 04. Almaviva sings again for Rosina, giving his name as “Lindoro“, supposedly a poor young man. They are interrupted, and Rosina has to withdraw from the window. Almaviva enjoins Figaro to help him conquer Rosina, promising a limitless reward in gold. Figaro sings praises to the wonderful effects that gold will have on his readiness to act. – Scene 05. Rosina’s famous aria: “Una voce poco fa“. Rosina expresses the deep effect that Lindoro’s voice has produced in her, and declares her decision to thwart her tutor’s designs. – Scene 06. Rosina meets Figaro. Very brief scene. They merely agree to remain in contact. – Scene 07. Bartolo asks Rosina whether she has seen Figaro. She eludes his questions. Bartolo tries to get information from his servants, Berta and Ambrogio. But they have been both medicated by Figaro, so that Berta cannot stop sneezing, and Ambrogio cannot stop yawning. – Scene 08. Bartolo and Basilio. Another famous aria: “La calunnia“. Bartolo and Basilio (Rosina’s music teacher) agree that something must be done about Count Almaviva. Basilio promises to have Almaviva thrown out of the city in 4 days, and describes how he intends to achieve that, by slandering him. But Bartolo is in a hurry, and decides to do things his own way. Figaro overhears them. – Scene 09. Figaro tells Rosina that Bartolo intends to force her to marry him. She declares her total opposition to that design, and then asks him about Lindoro. Figaro avers that Lindoro does love her, and Rosina begs him to put them in contact. She gives Figaro a note that she has already written to Lindoro. – Scene 10. Bartolo questions Rosina. She invents clumsy excuses, and Bartolo tells her that her tricks are useless, in another great aria: “A un dottor de la mia sorte“. – –