I never thought that I would ever be intrigued by an opera; however, boy was I wrong. On Wednesday October 26th I had the opportunity to visit the Met Opera’s performance of Rossini’s Il Barbiere de Seviglia at Lincoln Center. Due to the fact that it was my first opera I did not really know what to expect. However, after a little while I was astonished to witness such an amazing thing. I believe that the director, set designer, and singers effortlessly portrayed the true essence of Rossini’s original opera.
The first thing that caught my attention when the performance began was the way the set designer Michael Yeargen made use of the doors to create the setting of each of the scenes. On one hand, I was really intrigued by the manipulation of the doors because I was surprised to see that such a small thing can go a long way. The production team was able to create intricate set designs using such an ordinary thing. They were able to combine the doors in different ways to give each scene and setting a unique shape and appearance. However, on the other hand, I was also slightly disappointed that they used such a simple thing in order to shape the settings of each and every scene. When I first saw the doors I began to think of the fact that they spent so much time and money in creating the opera, and that in the end they were a little cheap when it came to such an important thing as the design of the set. I believe that the I would have been more intrigued if the production team had spent more time and money in the setting and in creating the scenes as Rossini envisioned them (in the streets of Seville).
As the opera progressed, I noticed that many of the props were used to add meaning to the scenes and to insert humor into the opera. One of the props that really stuck out to me was Figaro’s cart and its enormous size. When they brought out the cart I started to laugh a little bit because in my mind I knew that it represented the whole persona of Figaro. Throughout the opera you can truly see Figaro’s pompousness and arrogance. He believes that everyone relies on and that he is one of the most important people in the city. This fact is represented during Figaro’s “Largo al Factotum” aria. He also believes that he is the cause behind many of the good things that come about during the opera. For instance, towards the end of the opera he attributes the marriage of the Count and Rosina towards his doings.
At the end of the second act the audience erupted into laughter as a giant anvil was dropped down and crushed a wagon of pumpkins. During that scene the soldiers stormed Bartolo’s house after he got into a fight with the Count. Even though it added to the humor of the opera, I just did not understand it. I realize that it was symbolic of the fact that the characters were singing that their heads were hurting as if they were hit by an anvil, but I believe that it took away from the seriousness of the opera. In my opinion, the anvil was unnecessary and was a waste of money. It would have been better if the opera went into intermission with a serious tone. However, instead the production team dropped the anvil and took away from the mood of the performance.
Throughout the opera, Maurizio Benini, the conductor, was able to make use of the music to set the mood of each of the scenes. During the end of the second act, when the soldiers stormed Dr. Bartholo’s house, the tone of the music signaled that something dramatic was about to happen and gave you a sense of what to expect. The music foreshadowed that something significant was about to occur and caught your attention during the important scenes of the opera. The singers were also able to make use of the music to add feelings into their characters. For example, Isabel Leonard, who played Rosina, was able to express her emotions through the music. During her aria “Une voce poco fa,” you could truly see her love and affection for the Count, who she believed was a poor student named Lindoro. Through the music they were able to increase the impact the opera had on you.
Overall, I believe that the production team, including the director, singers, and set designer, did an amazing job at displaying Rossini’s original intentions concerning his opera Il Barbiere de Seviglia. Even though I had a couple of concerns regarding certain aspects of the performance, after all is considered I believe that they did a great job at creating a fun and exciting opera. I would encourage everyone to visit this performance, because it has the ability to change the way you look at opera as a whole.
