Il barbiere di Siviglia

Basically, the characters in Rossini's comic operas are derived from the commedia dell'arte and therefore mostly consist of somewhat foolish older gentlemen who fall in love with capricious and sometimes malicious, yet very pretty and beautiful singing ladies, who in turn are mainly interested in young, usually penniless gentlemen who are not married to them. It is a common prejudice that all of this lacks depth of thought, which Heinrich Heine classified as completely irrelevant: "But I delight in your golden tones, your melodic lights, your sparkling butterfly dreams". These are brought to life by a magnificent and enthusiastic ensemble.

Comic opera in two acts
Libretto by Cesare Sterbini
based on the comedy Le Barbier de Séville ou La précaution inutile by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais

by Gioachino Rossini

I. Act: approx. 1 h 35 min
Intermission: approx. 30 min
Act II: approx. 50 min