After just two years, the San Francisco Opera has already revived Spanish director Emilio Sagi's clever take on Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville). It is a happy start to the holiday season and a second chance for anyone (myself included) who missed the fun before. A large bust of the composer is on prominent display when the audience enters the theatre, so we know from the start that the production means to honor both the composer and his beloved comic masterpiece.
Dancers in flamenco dress enter (Nuria Castejon's choreography features throughout the show) while others prepare the playing area. They pull the stylized set onto a steeply raked stage. Even before conductor Giuseppe Finzi has ended his sparkling account of the overture, we are primed and ready for a good time in old Seville.
Big performances and super vocal pyrotechnics follow, along with some shameless clowning, crafty disguises and visual delights. Vivid pops of color and bright lighting by Gary Marder increasingly enliven Llorenc Corbella's evocative scenery and Pepa Ojanguren's attractive costumes. Before the final curtain, not all of the jokes will land, and some stage business will try a little too hard (some entrances and exits are rather strangely made from under the platform), but revival director Roy Rallo has trusted in Sagi's imaginative concept, and the results are thoroughly entertaining.
It doesn't hurt that the story itself is virtually indestructible, or that several of the arias are immediately recognizable. Rossini knew well how to please all but the grumpiest of listeners, and his gift for melody and endearing silliness is legendary. Music-lovers have enjoyed his famous opera buffa with its tongue-twisting patter, elaborate ensembles and pretty arias for a couple of hundred years. Long enough to make us wonder whether one more Barber is really necessary. A production this fresh and amusing replaces any doubt with a satisfied smile.
The SFO premiere of the Sagi staging (co-production with the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre) was double-cast; the brief current limited run has only one singer per role. Many of the 2013 performers are back, perhaps most importantly former SFO Resident Conductor Giuseppe Finzi. He has returned to maintain a wonderful rapport between the crew onstage and the peppy members of the SFO Orchestra.
All of the casting is from strength. Right from the get-go a newcomer to the production, current Adler Fellow baritone Edward Nelson, makes an impressive role debut as Fiorello. Other, smaller parts are essayed winningly by such familiar faces as mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook (treasured for her spot-on comic timing) as a cigarette-addicted Berta, and tenor Efrain Solis (a very busy current Adler Fellow), who makes his role debut as her ardent admirer Ambrogio.
Tenor Rene Barbera as Count Almaviva also has a proven track record at SFO even if he is a new participant in this revival. His Rossinian skills earned him the inclusion of an often-cut aria, "Cessa di piu resistere," in the second act, and it is the ringing highpoint of his fine performance.
Mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack returns to sing Rosina, the salty senorita with a twinkle in her eye. She is physically alluring, and her clear-cut coloratura is weighted with a pleasantly dark tone.
Bass Andrea Silvestrelli as Don Basilio is very funny, using his impressive stage presence and uniquely sonorous voice to great effect. His interaction with others in the ensemble is a constant delight.
American baritone Lucas Meachem is Figaro, and his strong voice makes the wily barber a believably charming manipulator. His acting may be a little underwhelming, but he is more than equal to the task, and he proves an excellent foil to the other, more distinctive personalities around him.
For outstanding characterization and remarkable vocal stamina one need look no further than Italian baritone Alessandro Corbelli's Doctor Bartolo. An old pro in the best sense, he makes "there's no fool like an old fool" seem more like a compliment than a criticism. Cavorting with the best of them in the physical comedy, Corbelli still manages to really sing the role.
Emilio Sagi (with obvious help from his design team) does pile on some anachronistic visual touches towards the end, but they are not excessive. When the right couple is finally united and they drive away in a vintage steel-blue Jaguar against a backdrop of bursting fireworks, it only underlines the timeless appeal of Rossini's operatic valentine.
Il Barbiere di Siviglia continues at the War Memorial Opera House Sat., Dec. 5 & Wed., Dec. 9, both at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: go to sfopera.com.