The Barber of Seville

Il barbiere di Siviglia
The Barber of Seville
Opera buffa by Gioachino Rossini
1830 lithograph by Alexandre Fragonard
Native title
Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione
LibrettistCesare Sterbini
LanguageItalian
Based onPierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville
Premiere
20 February 1816 (1816-02-20)

The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution (Italian: Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione [il barˈbjɛːre di siˈviʎʎa osˈsiːa liˈnuːtile prekautˈtsjoːne]) is an opera buffa in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy The Barber of Seville (1775). The première of Rossini's opera (under the title Almaviva, o sia L'inutile precauzione) took place on 20 February 1816 at the Teatro Argentina, Rome,[1] with designs by Angelo Toselli.

Rossini's Barber of Seville is considered to be one of the greatest masterpieces of comedy within music, and has been described as the opera buffa of all "opere buffe". After two centuries, it remains a popular work.[2]

  1. ^ Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Il barbiere di Siviglia, 20 February 1816". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  2. ^ Fisher, Burton D., The Barber of Seville (Opera Classics Library Series). Grand Rapids: Opera Journeys, 2005.