- Il barbiere di Siviglia premiered at the Teatro Argentina in Rome on Feb. 20, 1816.1
- Rossini composed this opera in about three weeks.2
- Why so quickly? Composers like Rossini did not have effective copyright protection in Italy at this time (“Italy” was still a collection of small city states rather than one unified country), and Rossini only earned money for productions of his operas when he participated directly in the performance. That’s why he composed so many operas so quickly – he had to earn enough under this system to support himself and his parents.
- The opera was originally entitled Almaviva, ossia L’inutile precauzion, in order to distinguish it from Giovanni Paisiello’s then-famous earlier operatic setting of Il barbiere di Siviglia. When Rossini’s opera was revived in Bologna in the summer of 1816 (two months after Paisiello’s death), it picked up the title we know today.3
- Paisiello’s version, and Rossini’s, were both based on Beaumarchais’ series of Figaro plays, as was Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro.
- The premiere of Rossini’s Il barbiere was attended by a series of unfortunate events:4
- The Duke who commissioned the opera died two weeks before the premiere.
- Opening night featured several stage accidents.
- Opening night also featured annoying disruptions by Paisiello fans.
- The overture was originally composed for Rossini’s Aureliano in Palmira (1813). It was swapped in at his opera company’s request after the premiere of Il barbiere di Siviglia.5
- Synopsis from the Metropolitan Opera
Sources
- Philip Gossett, “Rossini, Gioachino,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed January 8, 2020, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000023901.
- Ibid.
- Richard Osborne, “Barbiere di Siviglia, Il (ii),” Grove Music Online (2002), accessed January 8, 2020, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000900429.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
Cut IDs
11136, 18346, 19513, 23005, 40293