The Metropolitan Opera’s inventive production of Rossini’s effervescent comedy, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, stars Russian mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina as the feisty heroine, Rosina, alongside American tenor Jack Swanson, in his Met debut, as her secret beloved, Count Almaviva.
Rossini’s perfectly honed treasure survived a famously disastrous opening night (caused by factions and local politics more than any reaction to the work itself) to become what may be the world’s most popular comic opera. Its buoyant good humour and elegant melodies have delighted the diverse tastes of every generation for two centuries, and several of the opera’s most recognizable tunes have entered the world’s musical unconscious, most notably the introductory patter song of the swaggering Figaro, the titular barber of Seville.
Moldovan baritone Andrey Zhilikhovsky stars as Figaro, the ingenious barber of Seville, with Hungarian bass-baritone Peter Kálmán as Dr. Bartolo and Russian bass Alexander Vinogradov as Don Basilio rounding out the principal cast. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts Bartlett Sher’s madcap production.
This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theatres across the globe.
Watch the trailer for 2024-2025 MET Season to catch a glimpse of Il Barbiere di Siviglia.