The Barber of Seville, by Rossini – ABAO Bilbao Opera

ABAO Bilbao Opera presents four performances of Il barbiere di Siviglia at Euskalduna, a melodramma buffo in two acts by Gioachino Rossini, with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini based on Beaumarchais’s comedy. In this comedy, the cunning Figaro arranges a thousand entanglements to help the Count of Almaviva win the heart of Rosina.

Andrzej Filończyk takes on the main character. Pedro Bartolomé, musical and artistic director of the Joven Orquesta Sinfónica de Burgos, conducts the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa. The production is by the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège and is signed by Vincent Dujardin, who makes his debut at ABAO: setting the action in 1950s Sevilla, with a set design that structures a square surrounded by buildings that unfold scene by scene.

Artistic team

• Musical direction: Pedro Bartolomé.
• Stage direction: Vincent Dujardin.
• Set and costume design: Leila Fteita.
• Lighting: Bruno Ciulli.
• Orchestra: Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa.
• Coro de Ópera de Bilbao, directed by Esteban Urzelai Eizagirre.

Cast

• Figaro: Andrzej Filończyk.
• Rosina: Leonor Bonilla.
• Count of Almaviva: Santiago Ballerini.
• Don Bartolo: Bruno de Simone.
• Don Basilio: Giorgio Caoduro.
• Berta: Sabrina Gárdez.
• Fiorello: José Manuel Díaz.
• An officer: Javier Campo.

The opera premiered at the Teatro Argentina in Rome on February 20, 1816, and arrived at ABAO on December 25, 1953, at the Teatro Coliseo Albia.

Practical information

• Saturday, November 21 at 19:00; Tuesday 24, Friday 27, and Monday, November 30 at 19:30.
• Duration: approximately 3 hours, with one intermission.
• Prices: from €29 to €300 (November 21 and 27) and from €27 to €255 (November 24 and 30). Tickets available in the ABAO online store.
• Euskalduna Bilbao.