United Kingdom Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia: Soloists, Metropolitan Opera Refrain and Orchestra / Giacomo Sagripanti (conductor). Metropolitan Opera, New York, 15.4.2025. (RP)
Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia is again on the Metropolitan Opera, and what a delight it’s. Alchemy didn’t make this magic occur, simply the tried-and-true: it solely took a star-studded forged, conventional staging and a lighter-than-air efficiency of Rossini’s sensible rating.
This was Bartlett Sher’s first manufacturing for the Met, and it feels as if he had nonetheless been discovering his means by the operatic thicket in 2006. The units are primary, consisting of a collection of doorways that may be repositioned to create the required scenes effectively and successfully, and orange timber add shade and texture. There have been just a few surprises, corresponding to a big anvil descending on the finish of Act I, apparently portending doom for somebody. There was additionally an explosion within the subsequent act, signaling that the denouement was imminent. Sher’s directorial excesses have been minimal, as such issues go.
Superlative craftsmanship got here into play with Catherine Zuber’s costumes, particularly these for Rosina and Dr. Bartolo. The outsized hat worn by Don Basilio and by Depend Almaviva, disguised as Don Alonzo, is outrageous.
Davide Luciano is a terrific Figaro, navigating the position with litheness and zest. He arrived on stage atop a cart drawn by a bevy of girls, and it opens to show the wares he sells. There’s a donkey, but it surely lags behind the cart, tethered by a rope. Luciano tossed off ‘Largo al factotum’ with aplomb, the primary indication of simply how fantastic a Figaro he’s.
Isabel Leonard embodies glamour as Rosina with the mega-watt magnificence and charisma related to Hollywood stars of a bygone period. There isn’t any doubt that this Rosina will outsmart her guardian, Dr. Bartolo, and marry the mysterious man who has received her coronary heart. Leonard’s singing was equally alluring: every of Rosina’s arias was a showstopper along with her successful mixture of bewitching coloratura and vocal luster.
One other Met favourite, Lawrence Brownlee, was Depend Almaviva. Disguised as Lindoro, Brownlee’s Depend was tense and temperamental, though his tenor was meltingly lovely in ‘Ecco, ridente in cielo’ as he serenaded Rosina. Lawrence was at his finest and funniest as Don Alonso, the place his demeanor and voice have been all lightness and pleasure, as was his rapid-fire coloratura and ringing excessive notes.
Nicola Alaimo has not appeared on the Met since 2016, when he was Taddeo in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri. This has been New York’s loss, measured by Alaimo’s fantastic, vainglorious Bartolo. Alexander Vinogradov’s Don Basilio was conniving, however not fairly as previous and cantankerous as is commonly the case. His ‘La calunnia è un venticello’ was a masterclass in comedian timing. Eleomar Cuello’s forthright Fiorello portends a brilliant future for this rising baritone.
Soprano Kathleen O’Mara made her Met debut on this efficiency as Berta, Rosina’s governess. Her Berta was extra bemused by everybody’s antics than angered, and it carried over right into a delicate ‘Il vecchiotto cerca moglie’ that was additional lightened by the youthful gleam of her voice. As Ambrogio, Jan Dunn, additionally making his Met debut, was a grasp of comedian timing together with his cadaverous seems, threadbare costume and thinning mane of soiled white hair.
Conductor Giacomo Sagripanti additionally debuted on the Met with this efficiency. From the opening measures of the overture, he proved to worth refinement as a lot as drama. The Met orchestra fulfilled this promise with enjoying epitomized by lightness, transparency and wonder. Sagripanti supplied the proper setting for this excellent forged to work Rossini’s magic.
Rick Perdian
Solid:
Fiorello – Eleomar Cuello
Ambrogio – Jay Dunn
Depend Almaviva – Lawrence Brownlee
Figaro – Davide Luciano
Rosina – Isabel Leonard
Dr. Bartolo – Nicola Alaimo
Don Basilio – Alexander Vinogradov
Berta – Kathleen O’Mara
Officer – Jonghyun Park
Manufacturing:
Director – Bartlett Sher
Revival Stage director – Kathleen Smith Belcher
Units – Michael Yeargan
Costumes – Catherine Zuber
Lighting – Christopher Akerlind
Revival director – Kathleen Smith
Refrain director – Tilman Michael
