‘Barber’ Had A Hairy Start
Gioacchino Rossini’s “Barber of Seville” has become the composer’s most popular opera - one of the most popular operas ever written. But in the beginning, Rossini’s “Barber” had a close shave.
The opening night audience in 1816 thought Rossini, then only 23, was an upstart for trying to replace the classic “Barber of Seville” by Giovanni Paisiello with some newfangled trash.
Rossini endured, Paisiello was forgotten.
Spokane Opera will begin a series of performances of Rossini’s comic masterpiece Saturday at The Met. The production runs though May 29.
John Cooper sings the title role; Jessica Bowers and Rob MacPherson are the opera’s young lovers, Rosina and Almaviva, and Rob Newman sings the role of their would-be nemesis, Dr. Bartolo. Colleen Bryant, winner of this year’s Young Artist Award in the Greater Spokane Music and Allied Arts Festival, sings the role of Dr. Bartolo’s maid Berta.
James Schoepflin conducts, and stage direction is by Bill Graham. Other cast members include Paul Linnes, John Hart and Nick Bailey.
The story is based on the first in a trilogy of 18th-century satirical plays by Pierre-Auguste Caron, known as Beaumarchais. The other two plays have also been turned into operas: The second of the series, “The Marriage of Figaro,” had already been set to music by Mozart in 1786. And the last (and most problematic) of the three, “The Guilty Mother,” had to wait until 1991 for a successful operatic setting in John Corigliano’s “The Ghosts of Versailles.”
The plot of “The Barber of Seville” is the simplest and funniest of Beaumarchais’ Figaro plays. An innocent and beautiful girl, Rosina, is being held a virtual captive by her lecherous guardian, Dr. Bartolo. The barber (and general Mr. Fix-it), Figaro, helps a handsome young count, Almaviva, spirit her away. Complications include mistaken identities, narrow escapes, the intrusion of a squadron of soldiers and a dandy thunderstorm.
Jessica Bowers, the Rosina of Spokane Opera’s production, is the recent recipient of master’s degrees in both opera and vocal performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston. Bowers grew up in Spokane and graduated from Lewis and Clark High School and Whitworth College, where she studied voice with Spokane Opera producer Marjory Halvorson.
Bowers sang in the chorus of Spokane Opera before making her debut with the company in 1994, singing Nicklausse in “The Tales of Hoffmann.” The mezzo-soprano lives in Boston, where she appears in opera and concert as well as sings in the King’s Chapel choir, led by composer-conductor Daniel Pinkham.
“Rosina is a role I’ve wanted to sing,” Bowers says, “because it is one of the few women’s roles for mezzo that is a young girl rather than a mother or a witch. Besides, I really enjoy singing all those fast notes Rossini wrote.”
Bowers knows what lies ahead for Rosina - a faithless husband in “Marriage of Figaro” and an illegitimate child in “The Guilty Mother.”
“But Rosina doesn’t know any of this yet,” Bowers says. “In `The Barber,’ she’s just a starry-eyed girl who wants to get away from old Dr. Bartolo.”
Following her appearance here, Bowers will join the Studio Program at Central City Opera in Colorado.
John Cooper, the Figaro of this production, is a Seattle-based baritone who frequently sings leading roles with Spokane Opera. His most recent role was as Danilo in last year’s production of “The Merry Widow.” Cooper recently performed “Carmina Burana” with the Seattle Symphony, and he is a frequent preview artist with Seattle Opera.
Rosina’s ardent suitor Almaviva (a fellow who turns into the overbearing Count in “Marriage of Figaro”) will be played by Rob MacPherson, who is making his debut with the company. The tenor will sing Almaviva in four different productions of “The Barber” later this season, including in Sacramento and Memphis.
Since The Met’s orchestra pit is a small space, Rossini’s orchestration has been trimmed down to a 12-player ensemble for this production by arranger Anthony Taylor.
ON STAGE `Barber of Seville’ Spokane Opera presents “Barber of Seville” at The Met on Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and May 28-29 at 8 p.m. Tickets: $9 to $26, available at G&B Select-a-Seat outlets or call (800) 325-SEAT.