29 Mar 2006

Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Monnaie, Théâtre National, Brussels

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/74fa400e-bf42-11da-9de7-0000779e2340.html

paisello.jpgShirley Apthorp [Financial Times, 29 March 2006]

Thirty-four years before Rossini wrote his Barber of Seville, Paisiello penned a sanitised version of Beaumarchais’ play for the court of St Petersburg. Charming, direct and uncontroversial, his opera was so popular that Rossini initially chose a different title (Almaviva, ossia l’inutile precauzione), fearing to be overshadowed.