History Trivia / TheBarberOfSeville

* RecycledSoundtrack: The overture was not written for the opera, but was a piece Rossini had already used to open two other operas, ''Aureliano in Palmeira'' and ''Elizabeth, Queen of England'' -- both of them, incidentally, serious operas, even though the music sounds completely appropriate for a comedy.

* TroubledProduction: The 1816 premiere became legendary as a performance in which nearly everything that could go wrong went wrong - for instance the actor playing Basilio fell on his face hand had to sing his aria while trying to staunch his bleeding nose with a handkerchief. There also were many boos and catcalls from an audience that contained many fans of Giovanni Paisiello, composer of an earlier operatic "Barber of Seville", who were affronted by Rossini choosing the same play to adapt and tried to disrupt the performance. Things got better starting with the second performance, though.

** She also has the extended 'singing lesson scene' where the character does this with very little plot relevance at some length, and is more or less expected to showboat to the best of her ability. Some singers have been reported to stretch it out for at least 20 minutes. Others accompany themselves on the piano or other instrument.

*** 2010, conducted by Antonio Pappano at the Royal Opera House: Joyce DiDonato, Juan Diego Flórez, Pietro Spagnoli

* AllStarCast:

*** 1957, conducted by Alceo Galliera: Greek soprano Maria Callas as Rosina, Peruvian tenor Luigi Alva as Almaviva, and Italian baritone Tito Gobbi as Figaro.
*** 1958, conducted by Erich Leinsdorf: American soprano Roberta Peters as Rosina, Italian tenor Cesare Valletti as Almaviva, and American baritone Robert Merrill as Figaro.
*** 1974, conducted by James Levine: American soprano Beverly Sills as Rosina, Swedish tenor Nicolai Gedda as Almaviva, and American baritone Sherrill Milnes as Figaro.

*** 2010, conducted by Antonio Pappano: American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato as Rosina, Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez as Almaviva, and Italian baritone Pietro Spagnoli as Figaro.

* TroubledProduction: The 1816 premiere became legendary as a performance in which nearly everything that could go wrong went wrong - for instance the actor playing Basilio fell on his face hand had to sing his aria while trying to staunch his bleeding nose with a handkerchief. There alsow were many boos and catcalls from an audience that contained many fans of Giovanni Paisiello, composer of an earlier operatic "Barber of Seville", who were affronted by Rossini choosing the same play to adapt and tried to disrupt the performance. Things got better starting with the second performance, though.

* TroubledProduction: The 1816 premiere became legendary as a performance in which nearly everything that could go wrong went wrong - for instance the actor playing Basilio fell on his face hand had to sing his aria while trying to staunch his bleeding nose with a handkerchief. There alsow were many boos and catcalls from an audience that contained many fans of Giovanni Paisiello, composer of an earlier operatic "Barber of Seville", who were affronted by Rossini choosing the same play to adapt and tried to disrupt the performance. Things got better starting with the second performance, though.

* BeamMeUpScotty: ''The Barber of Seville'' is the source of the "Figaro" aria, not ''Theatre/TheMarriageOfFigaro''.

* TroubledProduction: The 1816 premiere became legend for performance in which nearly everything that could go wrong went wrong - for instance the actor playing Basilio fell on his face hand had to sing his aria while trying to staunch his bleeding nose with a handkerchief - and there were boos and catcalls from an audience that contained many fans of Giovanni Paisiello, composer of an earlier operatic "Barber of Seville". Things got better starting with the second performance, though.

** She also has the extended 'singing lesson scene' where the character does this with very little plot relevance at some length, and is more or less expected to showboat to the best of her ability. Some singers have been reported to stretch it out for at least 20 minutes. Others accompany themselves on the piano or other instrument.