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Gioachino Rossini operas
Il turco in Italia (1814)
Il barbiere di Siviglia (1816)
Guillaume Tell (1829)

“Il barbiere di Siviglia” by Gioachino Rossini

The Barber of Seville, Der Barbier von Sevilla, Le Barbier de Séville, Севильский цирюльник

Premiere / date of written: 20 February 1816

The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy Le Barbier de Séville (1775). The première of Rossini's opera (under the title Almaviva, o sia L'inutile precauzione) took place on 20 February 1816 at the Teatro Argentina, Rome.

Rossini's Barber has proven to be one of the greatest masterpieces of comedy within music, and has been described as the opera buffa of all "opere buffe". Even after two hundred years, it remains a popular work

Libretti

# Language Authors
1 Italian Cesare Sterbini
2 German
3 English
4 French

original libretto
line-by-line of the original libretto

Images

Audio recordings

Year Cast
Conductor,
Opera chorus and orchestra
Label,
Comment
Buy
1950
Rosina — Giulietta Simionato,
Count Almaviva — Luigi Infantino,
Figaro — Giuseppe Taddei
Fernando Previtali
Coro e Orchestra della Rai di Milano
CD: Warner Fonit Cat: 5046 71224-2

Amazon.com
1957
Rosina — Maria Callas,
Count Almaviva — Luigi Alva,
Figaro — Tito Gobbi
Alceo Galliera
Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus
Audio CD: EMI Classics Cat: 3920462

Amazon.com
1971
Rosina — Teresa Berganza,
Figaro — Hermann Prey,
Count Almaviva — Luigi Alva,
Paolo Montarsolo,
Enzo Dara
Claudio Abbado
London Symphony Orchestra and Ambrosian Singers
Audio CD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 457 7332

Amazon.com
1974
Rosina — Beverly Sills,
Figaro — Sherrill Milnes,
Count Almaviva — Nicolai Gedda
James Levine
London Symphony Orchestra and the John Alldis Choir
Audio CD: EMI Classics Cat: 7243-5-85523 and EMI Classics for Pleasure Cat: 3932762

Amazon.com
1989
Rosina — Cecilia Bartoli,
Count Almaviva — William Matteuzzi,
Figaro — Leo Nucci,
Don Basilio — Paata Burchuladze,
Doctor Bartolo — Enrico Fissore
Giuseppe Patanè
Teatro Comunale di Bologna Orchestra and Chorus
CD: Decca Cat: 425 520-2

Amazon.com
1992
Rosina — Kathleen Battle,
Count Almaviva — Frank Lopardo,
Figaro — Plácido Domingo,
Don Basilio — Ruggero Raimondi,
Doctor Bartolo — Lucio Gallo
Claudio Abbado
Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Chorus
CD: Deutsche Grammophon, Cat: 435 763-2GH2

Amazon.com

Video recordings

Year Cast
Conductor,
Opera chorus and orchestra,
Director
Label,
Comment
Buy
1972

DM's pick

Rosina — Teresa Berganza,
Figaro — Hermann Prey,
Count Almaviva — Luigi Alva,
Paolo Montarsolo,
Enzo Dara
Claudio Abbado
Teatro alla Scala orchestra and chorus
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Deutsche Grammophon VHS/DVD

Amazon.com
1982
Rosina — Maria Ewing,
Count Almaviva — Max René Cossotti,
Figaro — John Rawnsley,
Claudio Desderi,
Catherine McCord
Sylvain Cambreling
Glyndebourne Festival Chorus and Orchestra
John Cox
Castle VHS/Warner DVD

Amazon.com
1989
Rosina — Kathleen Battle,
Count Almaviva — Rockwell Blake,
Figaro — Leo Nucci,
Don Basilio — Ferruccio Furlanetto,
Doctor Bartolo — Enzo Dara
Ralf Weikert
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
John Cox
Deutsche Grammophon VHS/DVD

Amazon.com
2010
Rosina — Joyce DiDonato,
Count Almaviva — Juan Diego Florez,
Figaro — Pietro Spagnoli,
Don Basilio — Ferruccio Furlanetto,
Doctor Bartolo — Alessandro Corbelli
Sir Antonio Pappano
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Royal Opera Chorus
Virgin Classics

Amazon.com

External links