Sunday, March 1, 2015

Rossini's Barber of Seville




I love outdoor performances. Here is the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada at the Sommernachtsgala Grafenegg in 2012. This is another piece that I am performing with the Louisville Philharmonia at our next concert. It is nice to see the up-close shots of the instrumentalists and the beautiful scenery of the countryside.

On the day after Christmas, December 26, 1813 Gioachino Rossini's opera Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) had its opening night and it was a fiasco. The opera is based on Beaumarchais’s play with the same title, which was already set as an opera a few times with a favorite already reigning for over 30 years. So, Rossini had originally titled the opera the title Almaviva, ossia L’inutile precauzione, but everyone knew what he was doing and many were outraged that Rossini would directly compete with the favorite Paisiello version. But by it's second performance Rossini's version was already winning out; it is said that the crowd was coming after the performance to congratulate Rossini. It is said that it only took Rossini 13 days to compose the entire opera with the overture copied from two previous operas.

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