THE BARBER OF SEVILLE to Open This Weekend at Sarasota Opera

Sarasota Opera will open Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville on Saturday, Feb. 22. One of the most beloved comic operas in the repertoire, it is also one of the most frequently performed works worldwide. There will be ten performances of the opera through March 29 at the Sarasota Opera House.

The opera is a comedic masterpiece filled with wit, slapstick humor, and clever dialogue. Its comic elements are timeless and continue to entertain audiences of all ages. Rossini's score is packed with memorable melodies and energetic, engaging music. The overture is particularly famous and has been used in various films, cartoons, and commercials. Warner Brothers famously used it as the soundtrack for a Bugs Bunny cartoon entitled The Rabbit of Seville.

The story revolves around the efforts of Count Almaviva to win the love of Rosina, with the help of the resourceful Figaro, while thwarting the plans of her guardian, Dr. Bartolo. The plot is full of twists, disguises, and humorous situations that keep the audience entertained from start to finish.

Before the curtain rises, opera patrons can attend a pre-performance dinner in a private room at Sage Restaurant, around the corner from the Opera House, that includes a talk by the production’s stage director, Marco Nisticò. Cocktails will be served at 5 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m. Cost is $200 per person (tickets to the performance are additional).

Korean-American tenor, Hak Soo Kim, will sing the role of Count Almaviva, who is determined to win the heart of the beautiful Rosina. This is his seventh season with Sarasota Opera. His most recent performance here was as Lindoro in L'italiana in Algeri. He was a resident tenor at Los Angeles Opera. When he isn’t singing opera, Hak Soo Kim, formerly head sommelier at Per Se restaurant in New York City, is consulting for restaurants. 

Mezzo-soprano Lisa Marie Rogali will make her Sarasota debut as Rosina. She has sung Hansel in Opera Birmingham’s Hansel and Gretel and sang the title role in Carmen with Virginia Opera this fall. Opera News described her debut performance with Minnesota Opera as “a tour de force of diction, precision and pizzazz.”

Italian baritone Filippo Fontana will return to Sarasota Opera to reprise the role of Figaro, which he sang with the company in 2018. This is his eighth season with Sarasota Opera, where he most recently sang the roles of Nanni in L’infedelta delusa (2024), Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (2023), and Count Robinson in Il matrimonio segreto (2022). In 2020, Fontana sang the title role in The Barber of Seville at the Teatro La Fenice, and the role of Dandini in La Cenerentola at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma in 2019.

Bass-baritone Andrew Gilstrap will make his Sarasota debut in the role of Don Bartolo. He has sung the roles of Leporello in Don Giovanni with Wolf Trap Opera, Antonio in The Marriage of Figaro and Il padre di Nencio in L’infedeltà delusa with the Bayerische Staatsoper, Basilio in The Barber of Seville and Immigration Officer in Flight with Minnesota Opera, and Sourin in Pique Dame with Des Moines Metro Opera.

Bass Young Bok Kim, marking his 21st year with Sarasota Opera, will sing the role of Don Basilio. In Sarasota, he has sung the title role in Verdi’s Attila, Sparafucile in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and Raimondo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, among others. A native of South Korea, he has also sung Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte with the National Opera of Korea and the Seoul Metropolitan Opera. Kim currently lives in New York where he made his New York City Opera debut as Colline in La bohème.

The Barber of Seville will be conducted by Marcello Cormio and directed by Marco Nisticò, with set design by Jeffrey W. Dean. Costumes were designed by Howard Tsvi Kaplan, hair and makeup are by Sue Schaefer, and lighting by Ken Yunker. It will be sung in Italian, with English supertitles for 10 performances through March 29.

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