but first, the inaugural write up. bartlett sher's production of il barbiere rocked my world. and introduced me to the divine goddess that is joyce didonato. which rocked my world some more.
the barber of seville was a great way to start the season for me. arguably the best comic opera ever written, it's also an opera i know really well and have seen twice before in two very different performances. the first time was at the staatsoper, in berlin, with rene pape - the beginning of my love affair with him. the second time was at the met a few years ago. i also knew my friend bob & i were going to be sitting in the SECOND ROW so i was looking forward to catching all the debauchery up close and boy, did i. hello joyce didonato. seriously, i love her now.
based on a play by the french playwright pierre beaumarchais - who also authored the marriage of figaro, which mozart turned into an opera - the barber of seville follows the story of count almaviva, who has come to seville to marry rosina, a lovely young woman he fell for when she passed him in the street. he can't get her off his mind so naturally, he does what any young, hot-blooded, moneyed count would do: pay a vagrant marching band to serenade her at her window. unbeknownst to our hero, however, rosina lives with a doctor named bartolo who, while technically her guardian, is planning on marrying her as soon as he can. when almaviva discovers this, he enlists the help of the town barber, figaro, a local matchmaker. hijinks ensue.
each of the roles were perfectly cast with singers who could not only handle and have fun with the material, but singers who were true comic performers as well. british tenor barry banks was pitch-perfect as almaviva - i was almost in tears from laughing during the scene where he barges into bartolo's house, dressed as a soldier and demanding refuge. john del carlo found a couple hiccups in the singing - i could tell he was getting a little a tired, lumbering all over the stage chasing after the very agile rosina and almaviva - but he held his own and used those necessary gasps for air toward comedic effect. admirable. and rodion pogossov as figaro was flawless: lovable, mischievous, highly capable - everything figaro should be.
playful, smartly executed and laugh-out-loud funny, bartlet sher's production is a golden haze from the center of which shines the unbelievable joyce didonato. i've never seen her before and i was entranced by her rosina, entranced! i did a google image search for the word "entranced" and NOTHING quite captures the way i felt watching her. writhing all over a velvet settee, fibbing badly to get out of trouble, shoving love notes into her heaving breasts, all while stealing every single laugh with the slightest gesture and singing her ass off.
sher's staging is a perfect as well - a series of movable white doorways and windows that can line up to be a wall separating lovers or opened up to reveal a patio. the staging and decoration did so much more than simply provide a backdrop - it added to the joke. there's a meta moment with a giant falling anvil that still makes me laugh when i think about it.
bravo bartlett sher. and helloooooo joyce. no seriously, call me. i love you.
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