Pafos Aphrodite Festival - "Il Barbiere di Siviglia"

The 20th Pafos Aphrodite Festival returns with the delightful comic opera Il Barbiere di Siviglia - 31/8 and 1 & 2 /9

Pafos Aphrodite Festival returns for the 20th season with Gioachino Rossini’s delightful comic opera Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The barber of Seville) on 31 August, 1 and 2 September at the Square of the Medieval Castle in Pafos in a production by the Italian organisation C.I.A.L.M. - Teatro Lirico Italiano in collaboration with the Ventidio Basso Ascoli Piceno Theatre and the participation of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra.

World acclaimed Italian director Lev Pugliese, designates of what may be the world’s most popular comic opera, this charming tale of a clever young woman, her eager lover, and their resourceful accomplice, Figaro, The Barber of Seville, this tuneful testament to all that’s wonderful about fun and romance.

“Since the very first listening and first careful reading of Rossini's masterpiece, I felt the need to relocate the chaotic events of this special day for Figaro and his companions, in an environment that could help the libretto and the music to have full vent. Without wishing in any way to detract anything from the daring and exciting development of the story, I could not help focusing my attention on the music, and therefore on its composer”, Pugliese states in his note.
“Rossini lived most of his life in the city of Paris, as a “bon vivant”, lover of good food and beautiful women” Pugliese continues. “It is easy to imagine Rossini as a frequent visitor to those historic spots known as "Café Chantant" which were first seen in Paris towards the end of the 18th century and by the time the Barber of Seville debuted in Rome at the Argentina theatre in 1816, they acquired an important social and cultural significance and later appeared to other European countries such as England, Austria, Germany, Russia and Spain”.

From the “Cafés" to the "Barber" the distance is short: the coffee-theatre, Rosina’s dressing room, the rehearsal room and the game is up! Therefore, in a time just before the Third French Republic, in a mysterious, fascinating and mellow Seville, recalling the wonderful paintings of Fourny, Bartolo becomes the impresario, Berta the seamstress with secret artistic ambitions, the count a wealthy client and Rosina the jewel in the crown of the show and ... Figaro? Well, Figaro is and will always be: “il faccendier di casa”, “the factotum of the house”.

Talented Lev Pugliese concludes: “The strong memory of the image of Rossini based on which this setting is inspired, could not be more relevant, given the fact that this year is the 150th anniversary of the death of the great composer from Pesaro. The location and the ample scenic space of Pafos Aphrodite Festival in Cyprus make it possible to further enhance the impressive scenic layout. The semi-elliptical arrangement of scenic elements will allow the audience to appreciate the set-up in its entirety and to bind the libretto’s different environments with the sequence of events: nearly a "dollhouse", where every room is, in fact, fully visible and inhabited in unison by the different and varied characters of the libretto”.