The Barber of Seville by Rossini, Déa 28 Deai 2021, Ó (2021/2022), Faoi stiúir Katharina Thalbach, Seoltóir Matteo Beltrami, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berlin, Germany

The story is turbulent: an old curmudgeon wants to marry his ward in order to get their considerable inheritance and takes every possible precaution to block the way for pretty Rosina to get into the outside world - and thus to possible young lovers. But Count Almaviva discovered his love for her long ago. With the help of the bustling barber Figaro, he wants to outsmart the old man, win over Rosina and, moreover, make sure that it is not his title or wealth, but only love that leads the young woman into his arms. Not an easy task for Figaro, because the opponents spare no effort ... In the end love wins and it turns out that all caution was useless! It is very clear that this story has a lot of comic potential. "But the strangest thing is the music" - says director Katharina Thalbach. “I was thunderstruck by Rossini's artistry and speed. ... During rehearsals I notice again and again how the music hits me in my legs and I involuntarily dance along. It shimmers, tingles and is just fun. And this attitude towards life should be conveyed as much as possible in our production. ”In the colorful ambience of a southern seaside resort, Thalbach unfolds a turbulent panopticon around the bustling Figaro, whose inventiveness overcomes all obstacles in the end. Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732 - 1799) invented the figure of the scheming and shrewd barber and dedicated an entire trilogy of comedies to him, the first two parts of which were LE BARBIER DE SEVILLE OU LA PRECAUTION INUTILE (1775) and LA FOLLE JOURNEE OU LE MARIAGE DE FIGARO (1778) became world famous. The third part, L'AUTRE TARTUFFE OU LA MERE COUPABLE, which appeared in 1792, took a back seat to the success of its predecessors, perhaps due to the turmoil of the French Revolution. Although the revolutionary potential of the second part of the comedy in particular is most clearly noticeable in Mozart's ingenious setting - THE WEDDING OF FIGARO - the barber of the first part also has a disrespectful temperament that predestines him to be the main character of a comic opera. Giovanni Paisiello had a resounding success with his setting of BARBIER in 1782, so that Rossini took on an apparently overwhelming role model when he decided to make the same subject again the subject of a comic opera. And yet 34 years after Paisiello's triumph he succeeded in what is perhaps the funniest and most fast-paced opera buffa in opera history. “It was entirely the Rossinian way, which is most lovingly revealed in BARBER OF SEVILLE. The despisers of Italian music, who also break the baton of this genre, will one day not escape their well-deserved punishment in hell, and are perhaps condemned to hear nothing but fugues by Sebastian Bach for a long time. "( Heinrich Heine )