For as long as I can remember, I have been a huge opera fan. I like Rossini a lot and Il Barbiere Di Siviglia is my favourite of his operas. I just love the characters, gotta love Figaro, the story, the comic coincidences and the music, you are in for a treat when you hear the likes of Largo Al Factotum, All'Idea Quel Metallo, Una Voce Poca Fa, La Calunnia, A un Dottor Della Mia Sorte and Dunque Io Son. This is a brilliant production and one of the best productions I've seen of this wonderful opera.
My only real disappointment is the finale to Act 1. That is another one of my favourite bits of the opera, but I just found the staging a little too cluttered and it got rather complicated seeing platoon soldiers descending into the orchestra pit and suddenly reappearing through trap-doors, and sadly the impact of this brilliant scene is somewhat lost.
However, the costumes and sets are wonderful. The first and most of the second acts is all in black and white, but bursts into colour in the final scene(check out Florez's suit), which I liked a lot. The video directing is excellent. And I loved the comic coincidences, which are wonderfully done without becoming tedious. The orchestra are stylish and the conducting respects the style and writing of Rossini.
The performances are exceptional, the highlight being Juan Diego Florez's Almaviva. He is a dashing presence, and has a brilliant tenor voice and an excellent technique to match. He is at his best here during his final scene aria, which we often hear in La Cenerentola, which is a real tour-De-force, and it is absolutely no wonder why the audience went nuts.
Maria Bayo is a very good Rosina. She is alluring on stage and has very appealing voice that has a youthful timbre while operatic at the same time, voice wise that's my idea of Rosina. Pietro Spagnoli may slightly lack the finesse of Figaro, but his voice is strong and beautifully produced and he acts with gusto. And I loved how they staged Largo Al Factotum, Figaro is more dapper here, and while he does communicate with the audience, you also see him cutting somebody's hair which I found really refreshing.
Bruno Practico is excellent as Bartolo, with his singing, style and acting spot on. Character-wise, he is both funny and repulsive. And then we have the wonderful singing-actor Ruggero Raimondi, who is as great as Basilio as he is as Don Giovanni and Scarpia. His bass-baritone voice mayn't be quite as powerful as it was before, but it is still in great shape and used very well. His acting is outstanding, in fact acting-wise, I'd say Raimondi is the best here.
Overall, a brilliant production with a great cast, some refreshing ideas and just plain fun. 9/10 Bethany Cox
