Gioachino Rossini

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

CLICK in – debatte: Introduction 45 minutes before the performance

COMEDY, CRISES AND COLORATURA IN A MASTERPIECE FOR ALL TIMES

How do I become what I am not? Since its premiere in 1816, Gioachino Rossini's masterpiece Il barbiere di Siviglia has proven itself to be a timeless comedy in which every generation can be reflected anew. In the midst of the competition for a woman, the opera explores how its characters repeatedly stumble in their pursuit of success and recognition - an analysis that is served up as a musical treat and whose punchlines also strike a chord with today's meritocracy. The longing for an optimized self drives Count Almaviva first and foremost. He and his accomplice Figaro rely on one thing above all else to conquer Rosina's heart and to undermine her guardian Bartolo as a rival. Set to Rossini's effervescent music, the protagonists become entangled in a web of relationships in which status is fought for and love is vied for. Between appearance and reality, director Tatjana Gürbaca searches for the melancholy undertones of the comedy. For behind many a masquerade lies the desire to escape one's own role, behind many a showy vocal acrobatics the fear of missing out on life. Can there ever be a winner in the pursuit of happiness?

Musical direction: Teresa Riveiro Böhm
Production: Tatjana Gürbaca
Stage and lighting: Klaus Grünberg
Costumes: Barbara Drosihn
Chorus: Alice Meregaglia
Dramaturgy: Judith Wiemers

Melodramma buffo in two acts (1816)
Libretto: Cesare Sterbini after the comedy Le Barbier de Séville ou La précaution inutile by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais

In Italian language
Supported by the Kühne Foundation, the Foundation for the Promotion of the Hamburg State Opera and Twerenbold Reisen AG