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Le barbier de Séville (1789) - Giovanni Paisiello
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Background
Paisiello’s Il barbiere di Siviglia was based on the first play, Le barbier de Séville, ou La precaution inutile (1772), of Beaumarchais’s famous trilogy. The controversial commentary on aristocracy caused the play to be banned from the stage for three years. The ban was lifted in 1775 and the work premiered that same year; Beaumarchais finally saw the work performed in 1780 when he was employed by Catherine II in St. Petersburg.
Although Rossini’s later opera (of 1816) is more familiar today, Paisiello’s rendition was extremely popular throughout Europe during its time. The work was first performed in St. Petersburg in September of 1782 (on the 15th according to the old Russian calendar system). Framery translated the Italian-language opera, and this French parody first appeared at Versailles on 14 September 1784.
Soon after this, Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte collaborated on an operatic adaptation of the second of Beaumarchais’s trilogy, La folle journée, ou Le marriage de Figaro, with the title Le nozze di Figaro. Mozart’s opera, which premiered on 1 May 1786 in Vienna, exhibits Paisiello's influence.[1] The last play of Beamarchais’s set, L’autre Tartuffe, ou La mère coupable, was adapted for Milhaud’s La mère coupable (Geneva, 1966).
[1] Daniel Heartz, “Constructing Le nozze di Figaro,” Journal of the Royal Music Association 112 (1987): 77-98.
Plot
The first of the Beaumarchais trilogy unites Count Almaviva with Rosina, whose ward Bartolo also wants to marry her.
In Act One, Almaviva is in disguise as a man named Lindoro. When he encounters his former employee Figaro, who is now Bartolo’s barber, the two devise a scheme to help Almaviva meet with Rosina. When Rosina drops a letter from her window to Lindoro, Bartolo tries to retrieve it.
In the second act, Figaro implements his plan to assist Almaviva and Rosina. After telling Rosina that Lindoro (Almaviva) is in love with her, Figaro drugs the servants, one with a sleeping potion and the other with a concoction that causes him to sneeze. Bartolo learns from the singing teacher Don Basilio that Almaviva is in town. In the meantime, Rosina learns that Bartolo plans to marry her, and Almaviva gains entry into Bartolo’s home by pretending to be an intoxicated soldier. Almaviva reveals his name (Lindoro) to Rosina, with whom he is secretly exchanging letters. Rosina also gives Almaviva a handkerchief and hopes to escape the control of Bartolo.
Act Three presents Almaviva in another disguise, now as a music instructor called Alonso. Almaviva—as Alonso—is able to meet with Rosina by convincing Bartolo that he is there in lieu of an ill Basilio. Figaro procures the key to Rosina’s room, but before Almaviva and Rosina can plot their clandestine escape, Basilio arrives. Everyone convinces Basilio that he is indeed ill, and he returns home. While Almaviva and Rosina make plans, Figaro keeps Bartolo occupied with a shave.
The fourth act brings the conflict to a climax, as Bartolo convinces Rosina that Lindoro has betrayed her. In turn, Rosina confesses her plan to elope, and she ultimately agrees to marry Bartolo. Almaviva then climbs up to Rosina’s room and admits his true name; before they can escape, though, the ladder by which Almaviva reached the room disappears, trapping them in the room. While Bartolo is away, Almaviva and Rosina are quickly married by a Notary, and everyone celebrates the triumphant union.
Bibliography
Title from title page: LE BARBIER DE SEVILLE / OPERA COMIQUE EN QUATRE ACTES
Genre: Dramma giocoso
Siglum from Paisiello thematic catalog: (Robinson) 1.64
Composer: Giovanni Paisiello, 1740-1816
Librettist (French): Nicolas Etienne Framery, 1745-1810
Libretto based on: The Italian libretto most likely by Giuseppe Petrosellini, 1727-1797, and Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais’ play Le barbier de Séville
Setting: Seville, at Don Bartolo's house
Premiere (French): Versailles, 14 September 1784
First published: Paris: “rue neuve de petits champs,” n.d.
Volume in the UNT Collection: Paris: Le Duc, n.d.
For further reading on Le barbier de Séville, see:
Faravelli, Danilo. Mozart e Paisiello. Milan: Stonehenge Progetti Editoriali, 1996.
Heartz, Daniel. “Constructing Le nozze di Figaro.” Journal of the Royal Music Association 112 (1987): 77-98.
________. “Setting the Stage for Figaro.” The Musical Times 127 (1986): 256-60.
Hunt, John. Giovanni Paisiello: His Life as an Opera Composer. NOA Monograph Series. Volume 2. N.p.: National Opera Association, 1975.
Lazarevich, Gordana. “Barbiere di Siviglia, Il (i).” Grove Music Online, ed. Laura Macy. [ Accessed 7 June 2005]. <http://www.grovemusic.com>
Lever, Maurice. “Beaumarchais et la musique.” Revue d’histoire littéraire de la France 4 (2000): 1093-1104.
McClymonds, Marita. “Mozart and His Contemporaries: Action Trios by Paisiello, Cimarosa, Martin, and Mozart.” In Festschrift Christoph Hellmut Mahling zum 65. Geburtstag, eds. Axel Beer, Kristina Pfarr, and Wolfgang Ruf, pp. 853-82. Tutzing, Germany: Schneider, 1997.
Nisio, Mariko. Giovanni Paisiello’s Il barbiere de Siviglia at the Court of Catherine the Great in Russia. M.A. thesis: University of British Columbia, 1997.
Rushton, Julian. “Buffo Roles in Mozart’s Vienna: Tessitura and Tonality as Signs of Characterization.” In Opera Buffa in Mozart’s Vienna, eds. Mary Hunter and James Webster, pp. 406-25. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Physical
Dimensions: 30.7 x 24.2 cm.
Conservation: Foxing; Frass and holes; Pencil marks and tape; Cover slightly worn with Dewey Decimal number on spine.
Binding: Dark green printed paper on board.
Comments: North Texas property plate.