Review: Seattle Opera’s Barber of Seville is a delightful way to learn to love opera.

Review: The Barber of Seville. Music by Gioachino Rossini. Libretto by Cesare Sterbini. At Seattle Opera. Directed by Peter Kazaras. Conducted by Dean Williamson. With Lawrence Brownlee, Sarah Coburn, José Carbó, Patrick Carfizzi. Now through January 29 at McCaw Hall.

José Carbó as Figaro, Patrick Carfizzi as Bartolo, Sarah Coburn as Rosina in Seattle Opera's production of Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" now through January 29 at McCaw Hall.Photo: Rozarii Lynch/Seattle Opera

Yes, I was aware that Rossini’s most beloved opera, The Barber of Seville was a comic opera, or, “opera buffa” if you want to be fancy, but I didn’t really expect it to be REALLY funny…I mean, after all, it’s opera. The majority of people hear the word and think of drama, tragedy and fat ladies singing arias wearing breastplates and horned hats and dying tragically while a weeping tenor mourns over their torpid corpse. But, “funny” operas ARE really funny…we’re talking LOL, Marx Brothers, Broadway musical comedy types of fun here. Seattle Opera’s highly entertaining current production of The Barber of Seville is great fun, with delightful comedic hi jinks expertly acted and performed by highly professional ACTORS who understand the intricacies of comedy timing, as well as beautifully sung by the same said highly professional SINGERS. It’s cleverly directed by Peter Kazaras and features the expert musicianship of conductor Dean Williamson leading the divine Opera orchestra. It’s the perfect choice for an introduction to attending the opera for first timers, or the casual opera goer who isn’t quite ready, or willing, to face the challenges of a “hard” opera like Tristan and Isolde. If you love seeing Broadway musicals at the 5th Avenue, you’ll very much enjoy this production of The Barber of Seville, while the expert musicianship of the artists involved should please the hard core opera aficionado. For the rest of us who really only experienced “Barber” through the classic Bugs Bunny cartoon, “Rabbit of Seville”, it can only encourage us to continue our exploration of grand opera.

What’s it all about? (Opera purists can take a nap here while I plot it out for the novices…) Count Almaviva has fallen in love, from afar, with the lovely orphaned Rosina who, unfortunately, is the ward of the greedy, repulsive Dr Bartolo who wishes to marry Rosina himself and is determined to keep any suitors at bay. Almaviva runs into his former servant Figaro, a charming ne’er-do-well, who is now plying his trade as a barber/professional rascal, who agrees to help Almaviva win the love and hand of Rosina. Using numerous disguises, cons and age old bits of comedic clowning, the pair work their way into Dr Bartolo’s household, tormenting the greedy Doctor and his saturnine sidekick, Don Basilio, and eventually triumphing over all obstacles and the opera ends with the marriage of Almaviva and the lovely Rosina. (But, it’s not necessarily “happily ever after” for the characters, most of whom return in the “sequel” The Marriage of Figaro which was adapted into an opera by Mozart. Both “Barber” and “Marriage” were based on famous plays of the period by French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais.)

The Barber of Seville is a classic example of commedia del’arte theater with mistaken identities, pratfalls, disguises and a general sense of anarchy and chaos. Director Peter Kazaras is obviously well aware of these theatrical traditions and expertly guides the cast through the mayhem of the broad comedy. And, the cast is well-equipped to deal with the intricacies of playing the comedy, all of them displaying strong comedic gifts and the sense of timing required to successfully play the comedy in the piece while maintaining control of the plot and characterizations. And, they do all this while singing a demanding musical score…opera isn’t easy, folks.

Both Lawrence Brownlee, as Almaviva, and Sarah Coburn as Rosina give expertly acted and sung performances as the central couple of the opera with a fine attention to the shadings of the two characters. Almaviva is the classic operatic leading man, pitching woo to his lady love, but he is also a fine comedy character with plenty of comedic business, including disguises and physical pratfalls, required to accurately create the character. Mr Brownlee is not only an expert singer of the role, with a beautifully performed aria at the end of the opera, but he is a master comedian as well and he was obviously relishing the bits of business required, most noticeably when he is disguised as a scheming music teacher, or a drunken soldier attempting entry to the Barolo villa.

Ms Coburn also delights as the lovely maiden Rosina, who isn’t quite as lovely as she appears as evidenced by her Act One aria, “Una voce poco fa” where she freely admits she can be a viper when she is determined to get what she wants. Rosina doesn’t get quite as much comic business as the male performers, but she makes the most of what she haves, with frequent eye rolls and a deadpan delivery that would rival any Broadway comedienne. Not only is Ms Coburn lovely to look at and listen to, with her beautiful soprano voice, but she is a very good actress as well. I’d pay to see her acting skills in a non-opera, any day.

But, I have to admit my favorite performance was that of baritone José Carbó in his role as the comedy lynchpin of the piece, the titular Barber of Seville himself, Figaro. Not only is Mr Carbó a gifted singer, (his big aria, the most well known in the show, “Largo al factotum” aka, the “Figaro, Figaro, Figaro” number so often times parodied, brought down the house) but he is a very gifted comedian, who in looks and performance style very much brought to mind the actor Mandy Patinkin in the film, The Princess Bride. Mr Carbó is a performer of immense charisma, charm and talent and I think he will only continue to succeed as a performer on the world wide operatic stage. (Also, the Argentinian born/Australian raised baritone is ridiculously easy on the eyes…he’s a pin-up for the opera crowd.)

In the supporting roles, Patrick Carfizzi did an excellent job as the scheming Dr Bartolo, a character far older and uglier than the handsome young singer who portrays him. Mr Carfizzi also displayed an excellent gift for playing the broad comedy in the role, as did Burak Bilgili in his role as the sneaky, mercenary music teacher Don Basilio. These two actors, along with Sally Wolf’s housekeeper Berta, and the non-singing performance of local actor David S. Hogan as the elderly servant Ambrogio, all honored the humor and charm of the characters and the plot of the piece with their strong skills as actors and singers.

Design wise the show was played very traditionally with realistic sets and costumes of the original period setting and no attempt to stylize the design or look of the opera. Sets and costumes were handsome and appropriate, though a trifle too middle of the road for my personal taste. Lighting, sound and titles, were, as usual, excellently executed. And, the classic overture to “Barber” was magnificently performed by the orchestra under the baton of Dean Williamson and their artistry alone is worth the price of admission. This Barber of Seville is definitely worth checking out.

One final story. I got to my excellent seat at the Opera on Saturday to discover that an elderly nun was sitting in front of me. I jokingly texted to some friends that there was a nun at the opera with me and wondered if it was bad luck, like nuns on an airplane. I also noticed that she was a “modern nun” in the sense she had, what appeared to me, her cell phone out and she was taking photos of the stage before the overture began and chatting with her companion. But, when the lights dimmed she didn’t immediately put away her camera phone and I noticed that she was holding it at an odd angle. I leaned forward a bit to see what she was doing and it looked like she was taping the production! The lights in the house completely dimmed and the music began but the light from her camera phone did not immediately go out, but remained lighted. I think she might have been a Pirate Nun! Eventually, the light disappeared, and it seemed like she wasn’t holding the camera up at an appropriate angle to be filming, so I don’t really think she illegally recorded the show, but it was odd and I thought, “What a perfect disguise to be a Video Pirate…who’s going to bust an old nun?” But, I still might check YouTube later to see if Seattle Opera’s Barber of Seville is viewable online…