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About the Writer

Tim Smith is the classical music critic of THE BALTIMORE SUN. He has also written for THE NEW YORK TIMES, OPERA NEWS, and BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE, among other publications. His writing has won several regional and national journalism awards, including a first place in arts criticism from the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors. He is the author of THE NPR CURIOUS LISTENER’S GUIDE TO CLASSICAL MUSIC (Perigee Books).

Television Credits

GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “Barber of Seville”

Directed by
Gary Halvorson

Conductor
Maurizio Benini

Production
Bartlett Sher

Set Design
Michael Yeargan

Costume Design
Catherine Zuber

Lighting Design
Christopher Akerlind

Cast in Order of Vocal Appearance
Fiorello
Brian Davis

Count Almaviva
Juan Diego Flórez

Figaro
Peter Mattei

Dr. Bartolo
John Del Carlo

Ambrogio
Rob Besserer

Rosina
Joyce Didonato

Don Basilio
John Relyea

Berta
Claudia White

An Officer of the Law
Mark Schowalter

Recitative Accompanist
Robert Morrison

Chorus Master
Raymond Hughes

Musical Preparation
Gregory Buchalter
Robert Morrison
J. David Jackson
Caren Levine

Assistant Stage Directors
Kathleen Smith Belcher
Robin Guarino
Gregory Keller

Met Titles
Sonya Friedman

Italian Diction Coach
Nico Castel

Assistant to the Costume Designer
Michael Zecker

A Metropolitan Opera High-Definition Production

Supervising Producers
Mia Bongiovanni
Elena Park

Producers
Louisa Briccetti
Victoria Warivonchik

Audio Producer
Jay David Saks

Associate Director
Christine Clark Bradley

Engineer-In-Charge
Mark Schubin

Technical Supervisor
Ron Washburn

Technical Director
Emmett Loughran

Audio Supervisor
Bill King

Television Lighting
Wayne Chouinard

Camera
Miguel Armstrong
Manny Gutierrez
Charlie Huntley
John Kosmaczewski
John Meiklejohn
Alain Onesto
David Smith
Jim Scurti
Ron Washburn
Mark Whitman

Robotic Camera Technicians
Rick Compeau
Ron Travisano
Ted Erne
Shawn Harkins

Video
Paul Ranieri
Matty Randazzo
Yoneet Commare

Audio
Mel Becker
Paul Cohen
Ken Hunold
Blake Norton
Michael Shoskes
Shawn Marie Walsh

Videotape
Alan Buchner
Steven Joyce

Television Stage Managers
Terence Benson

English Subtitles Adapted by
Sonya Friedman

Broadcast Graphics
Deborah Cavanaugh

Score Reader
Ben Sosland

Makeup for Joyce Didonato
Nzingha

Production Associate
Yolanda S. Williams

Opening Title Sequence
Producers
Gil Gilbert
Pat Jaffe

Intermission Camera
Steadicam
Jeff Muhlstock

Assistant Camera
Kevin Murphy

Utility
James Washburn
Rob Fritche
Giuseppe Restivo

Production Assistants
Michael Griebel
Alyse Horn
Allegra Lucas
Enzo E. Martinez
Amy Rabwin
Harriet Snyder

Video Editor
Gary Bradley

HD Nitris Editor
Laura Young

Audio Editor
John Bowen

Post-Production Audio Mix
Ken Hahn

Metropolitan Opera Association
General Manager
Peter Gelb

Music Director
James Levine

Assistant Managers
Artistic
Sarah Billinghurst

Technical
Joseph Clark

Editorial & Creative Content
Elena Park

Operations
Stewart Pearce

Finance
Bill Thomas

Development
Coralie Toevs

Director of Media & Presentations
Mia Bongiovanni

Marketing Director
Julie Borchard-Young

Artistic Administrator
Jonathan Friend

General Counsel
Sharon E. Grubin

Senior Artistic Advisor
Eva Wagner-Pasquier

Director of Human Resources & Labor Relations
Ann Marie Hackett

Director of Music Administration
Craig Rutenberg

House Manager
James Naples

Press Director
Sommer Hixson

Director New Business Development
Laura Mitgang

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Orchestra Manager
Robert Sirinek

Concertmaster
Nick Eanet

Librarian
Robert Sutherland

Metropolitan Opera Chorus

Metropolitan Opera Ballet
Ballet Mistress
Diana Levy

Stage Managers
Raymond Menard
Margo Maier
Theresa Ganley
Gary Dietrich

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Stage Operations
Master Carpenter
Stephen A. Diaz

Master Electrician
Paul Donahue

Properties Master
James R. Blumenfeld

Wig and Hair Stylist
Tom Watson

Makeup Artist
Victor Callegari

Wardrobe Supervisor
William Malloy

Costume Shop Head
Lesley Weston

Resident Costume Designer
Sylvia Nolan

Production Facilities
All Mobile Video Inc.
Atlantic Cine Equipment (ACE)
Dolby Laboratories
Remote Recording
Tandberg Television
Media Counsel
Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vasallo, P.C.

The stage production of “Il Barbiere Di Siviglia” was made possible by a generous gift from the Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund

For GREAT PERFORMANCES
Director, Program Development
Bill O’Donnell

Series Producer
David Horn

A Metropolitan Opera Production in association with PBS/Thirteen WNET New York

Executive Producer
Peter Gelb

The contents of these GREAT PERFORMANCES Web pages are copyrighted under United States and other copyright laws. You may not download, reproduce, transmit, display, distribute or make derivative works from the contents of the GREAT PERFORMANCES Web pages other than for personal use without the advance written permission of the copyright owner. Any unauthorized use of any of the contents of the GREAT PERFORMANCES Online Web pages may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.

Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Since 1996, when he made a last-minute debut at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Italy, when he was all of 23, Juan Diego Flórez has moved quickly into the front ranks of today’s opera stars. Now 34, the Peruvian-born tenor enjoys a career firmly planted in the bel canto repertoire of Donizetti, Bellini, and, especially, Rossini, thanks to his light, bright, agile voice, incisive phrasing, and dynamic acting style. Those qualities won a fresh round of praise from public and press alike when Flórez starred in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Rossini’s “Il Barbieri di Siviglia” (”The Barber of Seville”). He spoke with GREAT PERFORMANCES by phone from Vienna, where he was enjoying yet another success, this one in Donizetti’s “La fille du regiment” (”The Daughter of the Regiment”) at the Vienna State Opera.

GREAT PERFORMANCES: The Met’s new “Barbieri” drew a lot of attention partly because it was directed not by an veteran of opera, but by someone from the Broadway world, Bartlett Sher, who recently directed “The Light in the Piazza.” What was it like working with him, and how did you enjoy his take on Rossini?

Juan Diego Flórez: I think it was great. The fact that he was not from opera meant that he brought some new ideas, a fresh approach. He created a “Barbiere” that is modern, and at the same time one that respects the libretto and the opera, never becoming completely outrageous and different from what the librettist and Rossini wanted.

GP: The set design by Michael Yeargan also generated plenty of comment.

JDF: All those doors. No scenery, really, just doors.

GP: And the cast walks out partly into the theater over the orchestra on a runway.

JDF: That was new and exciting, no? In Europe, I have done a lot of things like that, so it wasn’t really so new for me. But it is not so common for the Met. We [in the cast] were all young people, and we love things like that, things that are new and strange. Bring it on, you know?

GP: There were some complaints that the orchestra sounded a little muted because of that runway.

JDF: That’s good, then. (Laughter.) It’s better than the orchestra being too loud.

GP: When you perform in comic operas, you are known for doing a great deal of physical action onstage — running and jumping all over the place. Do you practice a regimen to keep in shape for all of that?

JDF: I haven’t been going to the gym for, like, three months. Before that, I went often for 40 minutes or something like that. I have always been pretty flexible. I could always jump and do all kinds of dangerous movements. In opera I like to do it because it’s fun, as long as it fits the role.

GP: Do the producers look worried when you start doing that?

JDF: They do get a little nervous. (Laughter.) But I will continue to do it. There will be a time when I can’t.

GP: What do you like about portraying the character of Count Almaviva in “Barbieri”?

JDF: I enjoy him very, very much., He’s a romantic. But he’s the funny guy in the opera, no? He is willing to do anything, put on a disguise and get in funny positions, even though he is an aristocrat, and I like that. He is an aristocrat in the beginning and the end, and in the middle he has to be funny. When he is disguised as the music teacher, the way I do it, he even gets a little bit feminine. This is fun.

GP: At the Met, you get to sing the final aria in “Barbieri,” a brilliant showpiece for tenor that almost never used to be included in performances.

JDF: I like it a lot. It fits. It is written, it’s part of the original version of the opera. I think it is cut often because the tenor isn’t comfortable singing it. In the beginning of my career, I wanted to do it in La Scala, but the conductor didn’t let met. Now, I do it everywhere. When I was going to sing the opera in Japan, they even wanted me to sign papers saying that I would do the final aria. Here in Vienna also, they asked me to do it, and they are not used to that aria here, so it means you have to rehearse the opera a little more.

GP: Speaking of Vienna, you’re doing one of your signature roles there, Tonio in “Daughter of the Regiment,” with the famous aria that has nine high Cs. Are all those high Cs no big deal, or do they make you a little nervous each time?

JDF: No, actually I’m pretty calm about them. I worry more about the last aria, which is more technically demanding. Of course, it is always difficult to sing high Cs, especially so many high Cs, but they don’t worry me. If you worry about them, you shouldn’t do this opera. Sometimes I have to sing the aria twice because the public demands it, so you have to have those notes right there.

GP: The Vienna production of “Daughter of the Regiment” has an almost legendary singer in the cameo role of the Duchess of Crakentorp, Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé. What’s it like appearing onstage with her?

JDF: It’s really great. She’s my idol. She had such a wonderful voice, with those incredible pianissimos. And she is such a great woman, so down to earth — and so funny. She’s really a good comedian.

GP: Are there other singers you hold in especially high esteem?

JDF: My two idols were [Alfredo] Kraus and [Luciano] Pavarotti. I always listened to them. I liked their singing very, very much. Also [Plácido] Domingo, especially because of the Spanish songs he sang, the zarzuelas. I listened to them a lot when I was young.

GP: Not too young, though, right? You didn’t start out wanting to be an opera singer.

JDF: I didn’t grow up with classical music. My father was a folk music singer. I played guitar, and did a lot of singing and composing [of pop music]. And I had a rock band. I went to school to learn guitar, solfeggio, and harmony. I wanted to know more about music, how it works. I wanted to take voice lessons, too, and that’s when I discovered what I could do with my voice. At the beginning, I thought I would do classical and pop, but then I learned that I really liked the classical music. I decided that this is what I wanted to do.

GP: Singers are often encouraged to expand their repertoire, to do more and more things, usually heavier roles. Do you get that kind of pressure, and are you thinking of moving into different material, either post-bel canto or even pre-bel canto?

JDF: I’m lucky because my repertoire is so specific, and theaters are interested in me singing my repertoire, because it is not done so much. I’m pretty well settled in my repertoire. I like what I sing. My voice is high, and there is not much in baroque opera for higher tenor. But I am going to do Gluck’s “Orfeo” — the tenor version, which is high. I am also interested in doing a CD of late-baroque arias. And I think there will be a lot of Mozart in the future — not the near future, but the future. I will do my first “Cosi” in Madrid in 2010 or 2011. It will be good to take a rest from extreme repertoire. (Laughter).

GP: All the coloratura in that extreme repertoire doesn’t seem to give you the slightest pause, no matter how high or florid the music gets. Did your vocal agility come naturally, automatically to you when you started?

JDF: I think it is a little bit natural. When you discover you have it, you have to be careful. If you push too much in the center of the voice, you will lose the high notes. If you sing too much in the back of the throat, that will also make you lose high notes. Knowing these technical things helps you maintain the voice, keep[ing] it very high and very clear. And also knowing not to sing the wrong repertoire. Sometimes when the voice loses flexibility and high notes, singers change to heavier repertoire. I hope that doesn’t happen to me.

Interview by Tim Smith for GREAT PERFORMANCES Online conducted in May 2007.

Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Composer: Gioacchino Rossini

Librettist: Cesare Sterbini, based on the play by Pierre Beaumarchais

Production: Bartlett Sher

Conductor: Maurizio Benini

Performers: Joyce DiDonato (Rosina), Juan Diego Flórez (Count Almaviva), Peter Mattei (Figaro), John Del Carlo (Dr. Bartolo), John Relyea (Don Basilio), Claudia Waite (Berta), Mark Schowalter (Sergeant), Brian Davis (Fiorello), Rob Besserer (Ambrogio)

Synopsis:
Act I
Count Almaviva comes in disguise to the house of Dr. Bartolo to serenade Rosina (”Ecco ridente”). Dr. Bartolo keeps Rosina, whom he intends to marry, confined to the house. Almaviva pays the musicians and decides to wait until daylight in the hope of seeing her. Figaro the Barber, who has access to the houses in Seville and knows the town’s secrets and scandals, arrives and describes his busy life (”Largo al factotum”). The Count sings another serenade to Rosina, calling himself Lindoro, a poor student. Figaro devises a plan: the Count will disguise himself as a drunken soldier quartered at Dr. Bartolo’s house to gain access to Rosina. The Count is excited about this plan while Figaro looks forward to a nice cash payoff from the grateful Count (”All’idea di quel metallo”).

Rosina reflects on the voice that has enchanted her heart and resolves to use her considerable wiles to meet Lindoro (”Una voce poco fa”). Dr. Bartolo appears with Rosina’s music master, Don Basilio, who warns him that Count Almaviva, Rosina’s admirer, has been seen in Seville. Dr. Bartolo decides to marry Rosina immediately. Basilio praises slander as the most effective means of getting rid of Almaviva (”La calunnia”). Figaro overhears the plot, warns Rosina, and promises to deliver a letter from her to Lindoro (”Dunque io son”). Suspicious of Rosina, Dr. Bartolo tries to prove that she has written a letter, but she outwits him at every turn. Dr. Bartolo is angry at her defiance and warns her not to trifle with him (”A un dottor della mia sorte”).

Almaviva arrives, disguised as a drunken soldier, and passes Rosina a note, which she manages to hide from Dr. Bartolo. The old man argues that he has exemption from billeting soldiers. Figaro announces that a crowd has gathered in the street, curious about all the noise coming from inside the house. The civil guard burst in to arrest the drunken soldier. The Count reveals his true identity to the captain and is instantly released. Everyone except Figaro is amazed by this turn of events, and everyone comments on the crazy events of the morning.

Act II
Dr. Bartolo suspects that the “drunken soldier” was a spy planted by Almaviva. The Count returns, this time disguised as Don Alonso, a music teacher and student of Don Basilio (”Pace e gioia sia con voi”). He has come to give Rosina her music lesson in place of Basilio who, he says, is ill at home. Don Alonso also tells Dr. Bartolo that he is staying at the same inn as Almaviva and has found the letter from Rosina. He offers to tell Rosina that it was given to him by another woman, proving that Lindoro is toying with her on Almaviva’s behalf. This convinces Dr. Bartolo that Don Alonso is a true student of Don Basilio, and he allows him to give Rosina her music lesson (”Contro un cor”). Figaro arrives to give Dr. Bartolo his shave and manages to snatch the key that opens the balcony shutters. The shaving is about to begin when Basilio shows up looking perfectly healthy.

The Count, Rosina, and Figaro convince Basilio, with repeated assurances and a quick bribe, that he is sick with scarlet fever (”Buona sera, mio signore”). Basilio leaves for home, confused but richer. The shaving begins, sufficiently distracting Dr. Bartolo from hearing Almaviva plotting with Rosina to elope that night. Dr. Bartolo hears the phrase “my disguise” and furiously realizes he has been tricked again. Everyone leaves.

The maid Berta comments on the crazy household (”Il vecchiotto cerca moglie”).

Basilio is summoned and told to bring a notary so Dr. Bartolo can marry Rosina that very evening. Dr. Bartolo then shows Rosina her letter to Lindoro. Heartbroken and convinced that she has been deceived, she agrees to marry Dr. Bartolo and tells him of the plan to elope with Lindoro. A storm passes. Figaro and the Count climb over the wall. Rosina is furious until Almaviva reveals his true identity. Basilio arrives with the notary. Bribed with a valuable ring and threatened with a couple of bullets in the head, Basilio agrees to be a witness to the marriage of Rosina and Almaviva. Dr. Bartolo arrives with soldiers, but it is too late. Count Almaviva explains to Dr. Bartolo that it is useless to protest (”Cessa di più resistere”) and Dr. Bartolo accepts that he has been beaten. Figaro, Rosina, and the Count celebrate their good fortune.

Opera synopsis courtesy of the Metropolitan Opera

Funding for GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET: “The Barber of Seville” has been provided by Toll Brothers, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Sybil B. Harrington Endowment Fund, and PBS.

Related Web Sites

• Decca Classics: Juan Diego Flórez
• The Metropolitan Opera: Peter Mattei
• Joyce DiDonato
• The Metropolitan Opera: John Del Carlo
• John Relyea
• Claudia Waite
• Brian Davis
• The Metropolitan Opera: Interview: Rob Besserer
• The Metropolitan Opera: Features: Bartlett Sher
• The Metropolitan Opera: Maurizio Benini
• Classical Music Archives: Gioachino Rossini