[Met Tour] CID:165360



Il Barbiere di Siviglia
Lyric Theatre, Baltimore, Maryland, Tue, March 30, 1954




Il Barbiere di Siviglia (249)
Gioachino Rossini | Cesare Sterbini
Figaro
Robert Merrill

Rosina
Roberta Peters

Count Almaviva
Cesare Valletti

Dr. Bartolo
Fernando Corena

Don Basilio
Jerome Hines

Berta
Thelma Votipka

Fiorello
George Cehanovsky

Sergeant
Alessio De Paolis

Ambrogio
Rudolf Mayreder


Conductor
Alberto Erede







Review 1:

Review of George Kent Bellows in the Baltimore Sun
Results Masterly

Tuesday night?s comic opera, Rossini?s inimitable ?Barber of Seville,? was one of the best Met revivals in many years.

Everything about it was first rate, and the results were masterly. The expert direction of Cyril Ritchard, and the high order of singing and acting, made for one of the most enjoyable evenings imaginable.

An excellent cast caught every facet of Rossini?s delightful score, which was written to entertain its audience.

Roberta Peters, as Rosina, is a soprano of the greatest versatility, and she was ever a delight. Her singing was radiant, and she has a supremely professional equipment as an actress.

The debut of Cesare Valetti as Count Almaviva was a notable one. His voice was perfect as to type, and he easily encompassed the florid arias, yet could be tender and compelling, as in his aubade under Rosina?s window.

As the really comic Figaro, Robert Merrill?s solid voice and suave acting were justly admired.

Fernando Corena (debut) as the crusty old Dr. Bartolo provided an exemplary bit of caricature, who never over-played his buffo part.

Jerome Hines, as the music master Don Basilio, was a match for the doctor, and gave a meritorious performance, as did Thelma Votipka in her role of Berta, the housekeeper.

All these were the components of a performance that will not soon be forgotten. Alberto Erede conducting maintained a delicate balance.

His Overture was exhilarating, and the storm interlude in the best Rossini tradition.

Add to this the stunning sets and costumes of Eugene Berman, and the whole result was Metropolitan Opera at its finest.

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