The Barber of Seville

Apparently, it's the first time in Philippine history that three operas were staged in the country in the same year. Amazingly, I was there to watch each one! :) I watched "The Barber of Seville" last Saturday, and it was incredible!

"The Barber of Seville" is an opera buffa, or a comic opera, by Gioachino Rossini. It tells the story of Count Almaviva who is trying to woo the beautiful Rosina. He disguises himself as Lindoro, hoping to make Rosina love him for himself and not for his money. However, Rosina has very little freedom as the ward of Dr. Bartolo. Bartolo aims to marry Rosina himself so he can lay claim to her dowry. Count Almaviva then runs into Figaro, the Barber of Seville who also used to be the Count's servant. Figaro advises the Count to disguise himself as a drunk soldier to gain entry into the Bartolo household. Bartolo and Don Basilio, Rosina's music teacher, are very suspicious of Lindoro, and as they have a confrontation with Rosina, Lindoro, Figaro, and Bartolo's housekeeper Berta, their noise attracts the attention of the Officer of the Watch and his men. The officer arrests Lindoro, but as Lindoro shares his real identity to the officer, he is freed.

To regain entry into the Bartolo household, Almaviva disguises himself as a substitute music teacher and tells Bartolo that Basilio is ill. The lie is threatened to be exposed when Basilio appears but Almaviva bribes Basilio to feign illness. Bartolo's suspicions deepen and he throws everyone except Rosina out of his house. He tells her that Lindoro is just a humble servant of Count Almaviva and he calls for a notary to draw up the marriage contract between him and Rosina. During a thunderstorm, Figaro and Almaviva enter Rosina's room through a ladder in the balcony, and it is here that Rosina learns that Lindoro and the Count are one and the same. They are so caught up in their love for each other that they pay no attention to Figaro's initial attempts to get them to leave and by the time they do try, the ladder on the balcony has been removed. They are still in the room when Basilio and the notary arrive. Almaviva is able to coerce Basilio to act as a witness to his marriage to Rosina, and as Basilio and Figaro act as witnesses, Almaviva and Rosina both sign the marriage contract prepared by the notary. Bartolo enters the room too late, but his disappointment is short-lived as he is told that he can keep Rosina's dowry.

Everyone who performed in the opera were vocally amazing, and I especially loved the fast-running notes - and believe me, there were many - as these required (to quote my friend Marie who also watched it) "so much vocal agility and stamina." It was even more impressive that these were often done in unison or in harmony. While everyone was great, I was especially impressed by Mario Cassi, who played Figaro. His voice had such strong projection and really carried throughout the theater but he made it seem so effortless. His swagger and panache made his performance even more memorable. An equally memorable performance was that of Marco Filippo Romano, who played Bartolo. He was such an entertaining scene stealer and I especially loved it when he would mock Rosina by sarcastically repeating her words in falsetto. That said, it was a true ensemble performance and everyone really held their own.Major props of course have to go to the director, Antonio Petris, for achieving this.

Probably the most interesting experience I had in the show is the discovery that the popular aria "Largo al factotum" is from this opera. What is that aria, you say? Well, it's in the one where the singer keeps singing 'Figaro'. In popular culture, this has been featured in the Whale who sang at the Met, Woody Woodpecker, Tom and Jerry, and in the opening credits of Mrs. Doubtfire. If you want a more professional performance than those, here is Mario Cassi performing "Largo al factotum":

 
video uploaded in youtube by MrFigarofi

The fact that "The Barber of Seville" is a comedy makes it a different experience from the other two I have watched. They must also have had a ton of sponsors because programs were given for free before the show and several magazines like Lifestyle Asia, Mega, and Travel, were also distributed to people in the audience. (Although "La Traviata" probably had just as much, if not more, sponsorships because their ticket prices were about half the cost of this one and also of "Madame Butterfly".) Then again, it's not surprising. Rustan's was a co-presenter and they are celebrating their 60th anniversary. Several Italians were in the show - including the conductor, Ruggero Barbieri - and this is also because this year, we are celebrating 65 years of Philippine-Italian Diplomatic Relations as well as the 50th anniversary of the Philippine Italian Association. Pretty cool!

I wonder what the next opera will be. Phantom of the Opera, which will also be staged in CCP in a little more than a month's time, doesn't officially count as an opera, although I am equally excited for that.