The Canadian Opera Company’s production of The Barber of Seville is a pleasant way to escape the frigid Toronto weather.Michael Cooper/Supplied
- Title: The Barber of Seville
- Music by: Gioachino Rossini
- Conductor: Daniela Candillari
- Company: Canadian Opera Company, Houston Grand Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux and Opera Australia
- Venue: Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
- City: Toronto
- Year: Runs until Feb. 21
The operatic Barber of Seville, based on Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais’ play Le Barbier de Séville, has never been particularly subtle. Aside from being the source material for the greatest Bugs Bunny sketch of all time, Gioachino Rossini’s opera buffa is widely regarded as an ideal entry point for audiences new to the art form: The story clips by reasonably quickly, and Gioachino Rossini’s score is easily recognizable, even to those who may not think they’re familiar with it. (Give the overture a listen if you’re unsure; you’ll almost certainly recognize a melody or two.)
But it’s possible that Joan Font’s carnivalesque staging, revived by the Canadian Opera Company in a co-production with Houston Grand Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux and Opera Australia, overly spoon-feeds the opera’s dramatic themes to its listeners. Unsure how Bartolo’s greed might affect young Rosina’s plans for escape? Don’t worry: The Barber of Seville showers its stage – and later, its audience – with gobs of (fake) dollar bills.
And, in case there’s any fear of The Barber of Seville taking itself too seriously, Font’s staging regularly injects the opera with whimsy. In this world, guitars are brightly coloured, and frequently supersized; a bright pink piano takes up an impossibly huge amount of space onstage; a chandelier becomes a cliff from which a chorus member could topple at any time. (Indeed, Font’s staging has an eye toward the circus, with several instances of vaguely acrobatic fluff baked into it.)
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Then again, owing to the ongoing polar vortex, it’s been extremely cold in Toronto for weeks now. Some warmth – even in the form of an over-cutesified, over-choreographed opera – can’t be all bad.
The story’s the same as ever: Count Almaviva (Dave Monaco) is in love with Rosina (Deepa Johnny), who’s locked away under the guardianship of Bartolo (Renato Girolami). Almaviva soon hires barber Figaro (Luke Sutliff) – who eventually gets a happy ending of his own in The Marriage of Figaro – to help rescue Rosina, using one of the tonsorial artist’s trademark schemes.
The Barber of Seville is based on Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais’ play Le Barbier de Séville.Michael Cooper/Supplied
Mezzo-soprano Johnny offers the standout performance of the evening as Rosina, the whip-smart ingenue whose music offers an inside look at her innermost thoughts. Johnny seamlessly manoeuvres her voice to fit the wide musical demands of any given scene, and throughout The Barber of Seville shows off shimmery, delicate high notes, as well as meatier passages at the bottom end of her vocal register.
Sutliff’s Figaro, meanwhile, is reliably funny, and extraordinarily well-sung. As Almaviva, Monaco’s voice occasionally squeaks with vocal strain, but by the end of The Barber of Seville he emerges vocally victorious, alongside Girolami’s (musically excellent) Bartolo. It’s worth highlighting Ariana Maubach’s take on Rosina’s governess Berta, as well – the mezzo is in terrific voice and makes the most of Berta’s limited music.
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Conductor Daniela Candillari elicits a sprightly, cheerful sound from the COC orchestra. Sections of recitative underscored solely by harpsichord, for instance, tick along like a carousel.
Font’s production takes the chromatics of Rossini’s score and makes them literal with bright costumes (including flamingo-pink plumes on the male chorus’ hats) and toy-like props. Joan Guillén’s set, too, plays with pigment – when we first descend on Seville, the town’s buildings are literally translucent, but those set pieces soon crescendo into a rainbow of colours that mirrors the opera’s lighthearted story.
Joan Font’s staging regularly injects the opera with whimsy.Michael Cooper/Supplied
Could The Barber of Seville be more sophisticated? Of course. Indeed, longtime fans of the piece are likely to find Font’s aesthetic interventions overly bijou. But Rossini’s opera calls out for comedy: Even its first scene is amusing, with its sea of men exclaiming “Be quiet!” at the tops of their lungs. While Font’s staging isn’t particularly revelatory – and in places, is even a bit creaky – it’s also perfectly serviceable, and a pleasant enough way to spend a winter evening away from the frigid Toronto weather.