OBSERVER: Barber of Seville
The Australian Opera’s revival production of The Barber of Seville plays to the inherent comic nonsense of the buffa tradition in opera.
Count Almaviva (Shanul Sharma) attempts to woo Rosina (Helen Sherman) with the aid of Figaro (Samuel Dundas).
Standing in his way is Rosina’s guardian, Dr Bartolo (Andrew Moran) who is advised by Don Basilio (David Parkin). The schemes and ploys they fabricate ultimately unravel with ridiculous regularity.
Elijah Moshinsky originally directed this work with its doll house set and silent movie appeals to keystone cops in 1995.
The physical comedy of that period dovetails with the absurdity that Rossini also captured in his 1816 score where nothing is taken too seriously and everything is overblown. Heather Fairbairn, in her direction of this revival, has ensured the meticulous physical timing played to that silliness and complemented Rossini’s original intent.
Under the baton of Tahu Matheson, the vocal agility of the cast enabled Rossini’s comic vision to be realised.
The dexterity required for some of the runs, with a concomitant pace that poses challenges for articulation, seemed effortless.
Rossini even has Bartolo singing off key in a parody of the whole music tradition. You have to be a master of your craft to sing badly when required and Moran nailed it.
Performed at the Regent Theatre meant the orchestra were not hidden away in the pit. Whilst the acoustics of a modern concert hall may be better, there was a rustic charm to the arrangement that allowed for a greater interaction between stage and musicians which all added to the comic ambience.
This was the accessibility one might have expected in Rossini’s time.
Leave all logic aside and revel in the grandiloquent nature of this opera. The absurdity of the storyline is immaterial. The music and performances are everything.
Australian Opera
Regent Theatre until November 5.
Review by David McLean
Pictured: Samuel Dundas (Figaro) in Opera Australia’s production of The Barber of Seville. Photo: Jeff Busby