patrikpen: Not Entirely New in Music & Vision in 22 July

Not Entirely New

GIUSEPPE PENNISI experiences
a double 'Barber of Seville' in Rome

Two very different productions of Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Gioacchino Rossini, on a libretto by Cesare Sterbini, are being presented in Rome by the Teatro dell'Opera. Actually, this Summer there are almost half a dozen productions in Rome and small towns nearby, mostly by semi-professional companies travelling all over Italy. The remarkable aspect is that two different Barbiere are being produced and staged by the same opera house, which, furthermore, last February, staged a brand new Barbiere to celebrate the second centenary of the opera's debut in Rome's Teatro Argentina. ('Rossini's Revenge', 18 February 2016)

The two 'Summer' Barbiere differ from one another and from the much discussed version presented in the opera house last Winter. One is a joint production with Teatro Massimo di Palermo: a travelling Barbiere out of a big fifteen ton truck; the libretto and the score are simplified, the entire performance lasts about one hour and sets are simple.

A scene from Opera Camion/Teatro dell'Opera's 'Barber of Seville' in a lorry in Rome. Photo © 2016 Yasuko Kageyama

The stage direction is by Fabio Cherstich and the imaginative sets by Gianluigi Toccafondo. Carlo Donadio and Roberto De Maio alternate in conducting a small ensemble, drawn from the Teatro dell'Opera orchestra. The singers come from the Teatro dell'Opera academy. The truck moves, with the opera, from square to square in low income areas of Rome. People bring their own chair and, at no charge, get a taste of what opera is. It is very successful. The new mayor of Rome was at the first performance on 16 July 2016 and was enthusiastic. People are running to the squares where this travelling Barbiere is being performed.

The entire cast in Opera Camion/Teatro dell'Opera's 'Barber of Seville'. Photo © 2016 Yasuko Kageyama

The experiment is not entirely new: from the last decades of the nineteenth century to the years before World War II, semi-professional companies travelled all over Italy with simplified productions of operas to be staged in small town squares. They charged low prices and gave a flavor of what can be seen in the cities and in real theatres. Now the purpose is different: to attract a new audience for performances 'at popular prices' in the large opera house.

Reut Ventorero as Rosina in Opera Camion/Teatro dell'Opera's 'Barber of Seville'. Photo © 2016 Yasuko Kageyama

The other Barbiere, a grand production in the open air theatre at the Terme di Caracalla seating 2,400 people, is not entirely new either. It was programmed for the 2014 Summer season, when, due to wildcat strikes, only a couple of performances were staged. By word-of-mouth, those two performances pleased the audience. Thus on 18 July 2016, when it was unveiled again, the open air theatre was full to the hilt and the box office takings set a record: 182,000 euros for a single performance at prices considerably lower than those in the Winter opera house.

A scene from Opera Roma's 'Barber of Seville' at the Terme di Caracalla in Rome. Photo © 2016 Yasuko Kageyama

This is a very entertaining Barbiere. The action is set not in Seville in the eighteenth century but in Hollywood in the roaring nineteen twenties, when grand historical productions dominated the studios. Almaviva is a movie industry tycoon. There is also quite a touch of George M Cohan musical comedies. The idea is by Italian-American director Lorenzo Mariani, the sets are by William Orlandi and the costumes by Silvia Aymonino. It has a very swift action full of quite amusing gags, including a pie in the face of Bartolo at the end of the first act concertato.

Eleonora de la Peña as Berta in Opera Roma's 'Barber of Seville' at the Terme di Caracalla in Rome. Photo © 2016 Yasuko Kageyama

The musical part is also brilliant, granted that a large open air space cannot have the acoustics of a seven-hundred-seat theatre like the Teatro Argentina where Il Barbiere had its 1816 debut. Yves Abel's baton was swift. The singers were young and the three protagonists not well known in Rome: Giorgio Misseri as Almaviva, Teresa Iervolino as Rosina and Mario Cassi as Figaro. Cassi is a good baritone and an excellent actor, and he delivers the vocal acrobatics the role requires well.

Mario Cassi as Figaro in Opera Roma's 'Barber of Seville' at the Terme di Caracalla in Rome. Photo © 2016 Yasuko Kageyama

Iervolino is an amphibian mezzo (like Isabella Colbran, Rossini's lover when Il Barbiere was composed); she can deliver an excellent coloratura, easily reach acute and slide down gently to a grave alto register. Misseri should control his vibrato better, and sing for a while in small theatres; he did not sing the impervious aria Cessa di più resistere. Paolo Bordogna (Bartolo), Mikhail Korobeinikov (Basilio) and Eleonora de la Peña (Berta) are young but already veterans of their roles.

There were accolades for fifteen minutes.