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- Herausgeber: Icon Books
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Serie: Great Operas
- Sprache: Englisch
The première in 1816 in Rome of Gioachino Rossini's famous opera was a fiasco comparable to those of Wagner's Tannhäuser and Bizet's Carmen. But Il barbiere di Siviglia was soon recognised as being among the greatest of comic operas, comparable to those of Mozart. Even Beethoven was enthusiastic. Figaro, Seville's barber, is confident of a good pay-off for facilitating the elopement of Rosina with the Count of Almaviva. Her guardian also has designs on her and her fortune. Who will get there first? The story is based on a comedy by the French playwright Beaumarchais, whose The Marriage of Figaro was used by Mozart. The Barber is packed with famous tunes, displaying Rossini's glittering coloratura, trademark crescendos and patter: Figaro's famous Largo al factotum and Zitti, zitti, piano, piano; the Count's serenade with guitar, Ecco ridente; Rosina's Singing Lesson and Una voce poco fa; Doctor Bartolo's patter song A un dottor; Don Basilio's La calunnia. These are just some of the ingredients of this feast of humour and good tunes. Written by Michael Steen, author of the acclaimed The Lives and Times of the Great Composers, 'Short Guides to Great Operas' are concise, entertaining and easy to read. They are packed with useful information and informed opinion, helping to make you a truly knowledgeable opera-goer, and so maximising your enjoyment of a great musical experience. Other 'Short Guides to Great Operas' that you may enjoy include The Marriage of Figaro, Così fan tutte and Lucia di Lammermoor.
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Published in the UK in 2013 by Icon Books Ltd,
Omnibus Business Centre, 29–41 North Road, London N7 9DP
email: [email protected]
www.iconbooks.net
ISBN: 978-1-84831-604-1 (ePub format)
ISBN: 978-1-84831-605-8 (Adobe ebook format)
Content previously published in Great Operas, published in the UK in 2012 by Icon Books Ltd
Text copyright © 2012, 2013 Michael Steen
The author has asserted his moral rights.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Typesetting by Marie Doherty
CONTENTS
Title page
Copyright
PREFACE
USING THIS EBOOK
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ROSSINI’STHE BARBER OF SEVILLE
THE OPERA AND ITS COMPOSER
WHO’S WHO AND WHAT’S WHAT
THE INTERVAL: TALKING POINTS
Features of Rossini’s style: coloratura, crescendo, and patter
Characterisation: Rosina
Paisiello, the first composer of ‘The Barber’
ACT BY ACT
Act 1
Act 2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Sources of quotes
Other sources
NOTES
Short Guides to Great Operas
PREFACE
This guide is aimed at the ordinary opera-goer and opera-lover, usually a busy person who wants to know the essentials of the opera but has little time to grasp them.
It provides key background information to The Barber of Seville, told engagingly by someone who knows the opera intimately.
It is light, easy to read, and entertaining. Relevant information has been carefully selected to enhance your appreciation of Rossini’s work.
It is authoritative, but not dense or academic. It is unburdened with the clutter that can easily be obtained elsewhere. It concentrates on information that it will help you to know in advance.
Read quickly before going to the opera or listening to it at home, you will get the very best out of the performance and have a truly enjoyable experience.
Opera can be a great social occasion. Being knowledgeable and well-informed, you’ll appreciate this magical art-form much more if you read this first.
I hope you enjoy the opera!
Michael Steen
USING THIS EBOOK
A very quick grasp of the opera can be gained by reading the opening section on ‘The opera and its composer’ and the ensuing ‘Who’s who and what’s what’. Further elaboration may be found in the sections entitled ‘The interval: talking points’ and ‘Act by act’.
The footnotes and boxes are an integral part of the information. The reader is encouraged to go to these by clicking on the links.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Steen OBE studied at the Royal College of Music, was organ scholar at Oriel College, Oxford, and has been chairman of both the RCM Society and the Friends of the V&A Museum. He is a trustee of the Gerald Coke Handel Foundation and Anvil Arts, and Treasurer of The Open University.
ROSSINI’STHEBARBEROFSEVILLE
A SHORT GUIDE TO A GREAT OPERA
The opera and its composer
Who’s who and what’s what
The interval: talking points
Act by act
THE OPERA AND ITS COMPOSER
Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia has been called ‘perhaps the greatest of all comic operas.’ When he selected the story of ‘The Barber of Seville’ for the 1816 carnival season in Rome, he was being particularly brave. This was a well-known story with a great track record. Forty years earlier it had been sketched by the distinguished French playwright Beaumarchais as an informal opera to entertain house-guests in a château. He later developed it into a straight play – so successfully that he was subsequently persuaded to write a sequel about Figaro in love, La folle journée, ou Le mariage de Figaro (1784).
By the time Mozart used this for his opera, an opera about ‘The Barber’ had been composed by the famous Neapolitan composer Paisiello. This had been very popular indeed: it ran every season in Vienna in the mid-1780s.
Paisiello was in his mid-seventies by the time Rossini composed his opera. He was a distinguished, if contentious, figure: when the Bourbon monarchy was restored in Naples in 1815, he was sacked from all his posts; he had backed the wrong side. He had no interest in Rossini having a success.
It was to no avail that, to avoid upsetting him, Rossini changed the title to Almaviva, ossia l’Inutile Precauzione (
