Il barbiere di Siviglia (Paisiello)

"Il barbiere di Siviglia, ovvero La precauzione inutile" ("The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution") is a comic opera by Giovanni Paisiello, first performed on 26 September, 1782 (old Russian calendar, 15 September) at the Imperial Court, Saint Petersburg. The opera was adapted from the play "Le Barbier de Séville" of Pierre Beaumarchais. The full title for the opera reads:

"Il barbiere di Siviglia, ovvero La Precauzione inutile, dramma giocoso per musica tradotto liberamente dal francese, da rappresentarsi nel Teatro Imperiale del corte, l'anno 1782"Loewenberg, Alfred, "Paisiello's and Rossini's "Barbiere di Siviglia" (April 1939). "Music & Letters", 20 (2): pp. 157-167.]
"The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution, comical drama with music freely translated from the French, presented at the Imperial Court Theater, the year 1782"

While the librettist was not mentioned on the title page, he has been identified as Giuseppe Petrosellini.

History and reception

Several musical adaptations of "Il barbiere di Siviglia" predated the version by Paisiello, but Paisiello's comic opera was the first to achieve widespread success. It was subsequently staged in several cities in the years immediately following its premiere, including the following:

Recordings

* Mercury SR 2-9010: Graziella Sciutti, Nicola Monti, Rolando Panerai, Renato Capecchi, Mario Petri; Virtuosi di Roma; Renato Fasano, conductor [cite journal | url=http://mq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/XLVIII/1/135 | last=Lang | first=Paul Henry | title=Reviews of Records - Paisiello: "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" | journal=The Musical Quarterly | volume=XLVIII | issue=1 | pages=135–139 | date=1962 | accessdate=2007-10-14]
* Hungaroton SLPD MZS-27: Dénes Gulyas, Krisztina Laki, József Gregor, István Gáti, Sándor Sólyom-Nagy, Csaba Réti, Miklós Mersei, Gábor Vághelyi, Attila Fülöp; Hungarian State Orchestra; Ádám Fischer, conductor

References in popular culture

* The serenade "Saper bramate" sung by The Count is memorably used in Stanley Kubrick's period film "Barry Lyndon".

References

External links

[http://www.librettidopera.it/barsiv2/barsiv2.html libretto]

ource

*"Viking Opera Guide" ed. Holden (Viking, 1993)