About the opera "The Barber of Seville" by J. Rossini
The comic opera "The Barber of Seville" by Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) is one of the most famous in its genre, and for more than two hundred years it has remained not only in the current repertoire of world opera, but also enjoys the constant affection of listeners, who get real aesthetic pleasure, bathing in virtuoso, full of the beauty of Italian melodic music, emotionally empathizing with the heroes of the opera, who time and again get into rather bizarre situations, outlined by the witty plot of the libretto, based on the immortal comedy of the French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais.
The impetus for the appearance of this work was a fairly familiar situation in the Italian art of that time: J. Rossini, still quite young and known only in Rome, received an order to write an opera for the traditional Roman carnival. The composer sought to find a special libretto for a new work. And I didn't find it, but I wasted a lot of time. All that he proposed was rejected by the Austrian censor, and the mythical-heroic plots did not find the support of the impresario. And then J. Rossini decides to turn to the works of P. Beaumarchais, despite the fact that many operas have already been written on the well-known plot about the clever Figaro, in particular J. Paisiello (1782). The young composer took advantage of the courtesy of one of the most popular Italian composers at that time, the author of more than a hundred operas, G. Paisiello, who allowed Cesare Sterbini's libretto to be taken from his opera, which had been on the stage for several decades with quite notable success. Trying to make it to the time of the premiere stipulated by the contract, J. Rossini began to hastily write his new opera "Almaviva, or Vain Prudence". The work lasted a little more than two weeks. In order to have time to submit the work on time, the author uses fragments from his early works, in particular the overture he wrote for the opera "Aurelian in Palmyra", later used in the opera "Elizabeth, Queen of England". The premiere of the opera entitled "Almaviva, or Vain Prudence" took place under the direction of the author himself on February 20, 1816, in the Roman theater of Argentino. And it was a complete failure. This was facilitated by a number of unpleasant accidents during the performance: so Don Basilio was injured on stage during a fall, Almaviva broke a string, performing a serenade, and at some point a cat appeared on the stage... But already the second performance took place in a crowded hall, and individual arias from the opera sounded on the streets of Rome, which immediately raised the status of the performance to a notable artistic event. J. Paisiello died three months after Rossini's premiere, never realizing that the opera of his protégé and creative heir would overshadow all others based on the works of P. Beaumarchais, with the exception of the opera "The Marriage of Figaro" by V.-A. Mozart. Often these operas adorn the repertoire of the theater at the same time, alternating their performances. that the opera of his protégé and creative heir will overshadow all others created based on the works of P. Beaumarchais, with the exception of the opera "The Marriage of Figaro" by V.-A. Mozart. Often these operas adorn the repertoire of the theater at the same time, alternating their performances. that the opera of his protégé and creative heir will overshadow all others created based on the works of P. Beaumarchais, with the exception of the opera "The Marriage of Figaro" by V.-A. Mozart. Often these operas adorn the repertoire of the theater at the same time, alternating their performances.
The creative biography of J. Rossini fascinates with its originality and fullness. Born into an artistic family of a musician and an actress, he was in the whirlwind of Italian musical life from childhood; sang in church choirs, studied vocals and playing various instruments; violins, violas, harpsichords, cellos, acted as conductor and regent of choirs. And all this happened even before the age of fourteen, when the young maestro was elected a member of the Bologna Music Academy. At that time, he wrote two symphonies, five string quartets, and a cantata. And his first opera "Demetrio and Polybno" (staged in 1812 in Rome). At the time of the creation of The Barber of Seville, J. Rossini was already the author of five operas! All of them have reached our time, but as a fact of his personal biography. True musical success and world fame awaited the composer precisely after the premiere of "The Barber of Seville". It is believed that this work completed the formation of the Italian opera-buff as a separate musical and stage genre in all formal technical requirements: the proportionality of poetic arias and textual dialogues, choral recitatives and expressive comic mise-en-scenes. J. Rossini's opera, full of natural vivacity and dynamic development of events, subtle sarcasm and violent musical humor, quickly gained popularity. And not only in Italy's thirst for good opera music, but also reached beyond the borders of its homeland. In 1821, Rossini's work was performed by the Italian Opera Company in Odessa, and a year later in St. Petersburg, and in 1825 in New York. From the middle of the 19th century. "The Barber of Seville" becomes one of the most performed works of the Italian repertoire. The opera is staged by the most famous conductors Vaclav Suk, Boris Haikin, A. Melyk-Pashaev, Yevgeny Svetlanov, Stepan Turchak, parts from "The Barber of Seville" decorated the repertoire of Polina Viardo, Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi, Luigi Alva, Fyodor Chaliapin, Ivan Kozlovsky, Mark Reiseg , Oskar Kamionskyi, Yuriy Mazurka, Serhiy Lemeshev, and others.
Gioacchino Rossini became one of the most significant composers of Europe during his lifetime. Almost all operas written after The Barber of Seville. had quite noticeable success, although some of them disappeared from the active repertoire palette over time due to the latest aesthetic contexts in the European musical space. However, from time to time, theaters turn to the works of the outstanding Italian composer, performing new readings of his somewhat forgotten, but very interesting and talented operas in terms of the richness of their musical melodies, which at one time dominated the best theaters of Europe and were considered the pinnacle of the operatic art of that time: "The magpie thief ", "An Italian woman in Algeria", "Semiramis", "Journey to Reims", "Wilhelm Tell".
In his last life, after becoming seriously ill, J. Rossini moved away from large musical forms and concentrated mostly on instrumental and religious music. He writes choirs, masses, romances, chamber works.
Vasyl Turkevich, Honored Artist of Ukraine
