The Barber of Seville

Gioachino Rossini
Composer
The Barber of Seville, or A Useless Precaution

The very first performance of the opera The Barber of Seville in 1816 was a sorry failure. Here's what Rossini said about his own premier:

The eventful first night arrived at last, and throughout my artistic career I have never experienced a more stormy evening. It was not the hostile party alone, but a whole series of mishaps which contributed to the great fiasco of my opera. The overture was completely drowned, as well as the first chorus, by the hissing and whistling of the public.

Along with the nasty audience, there was an accident with a trapdoor and a stray cat wandered on the stage. Oh well. By the second performance the opera was a roaring success, and to this day a staple of the opera repertoire. It's considered the great masterpiece of opera buffa (comedy within music) and is 5th on the list of the 20 most performed operas in America.

We saw it for the 4th time on Sunday, and that doesn't include MET films watched or the countless times John has listened to the music and read the libretto. Barber of Seville is one of his favorites, and these tickets were a Christmas present. He mentioned he would be happy to "step in" if the conductor was indisposed, since he knows it so well. You know John!
He looks like he's having a good time...
Our Seattle Opera House building, or McCaw Hall, has a long history. Back in 1881, a Pioneer Square saloonkeeper willed $20,000 for a "civic hall." The trust (back when money actually earned interest) eventually grew to $109,000, and in 1925 the city allocated another $900,000 to build a Civic Auditorium. Here's a 1929 view of the building from the MOHAI photo collection:

The Civic Auditorium was remodeled for the Seattle Worlds' Fair in 1962, when it became known as the Opera House. For the next 40 years, it stayed basically the same and the Opera House was the home of countless symphony, opera and ballet performances:

Then in 2003, the building was completely renovated and became the beautiful new McCaw Hall. Nothing really remains of the old auditorium except the footprint. Here's an exterior view:


The interior space has a spectacular five story lobby with floor-to-ceiling glass walls. Our seats are high up on the third tier, and there's a dizzy view to the main floor below:

We had a great afternoon on Sunday. The Barber of Seville is funny, entertaining and the music so familiar.

If you have 7 minutes to waste watching one of the best Loony Tunes ever made, here's the classic Rabbit of Seville: