BWW Q&A: Francesca Zambello on THE BARBER OF SEVILLE at North Carolina Opera

North Carolina Opera presents Rossini's THE BARBER OF SEVILLE PERFORMANCE INFORMATION Friday, February 2, 2024 at 7:30PM Sunday, February 4, 2024 at 2:00PM Raleigh Memorial Auditorium Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts.

THE BARBER OF SEVILLE runs approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes including one intermission. Performed in Italian with English supertitles.

Music by Gioachino Rossini Libretto by Cesare Sterbini, from the play Le barbier de Séville by Pierre de Beaumarchais World premiere: Teatro Argentina, Rome, February 20, 1816 United States premiere: Park Theater, New York, May 3, 1819 Rossini’s recognizable melodies set the stage for a madcap matchmaking musical comedy.

Audiences will delight in a plot fraught with bribery, mischievous deception, and disguise all in the name of love. MORE INFO Audio description services will be available for the Friday, February 2nd performance, provided by Arts Access.

Friday night ticketholders are invited to join us for a free pre-opera talk in the Lobby of Meymandi Concert Hall at 6:30PM. Dr. Stephen Armstrong of Shaw University will present. HBCU Night at the Opera will be Friday, February 2, 2024. Guests are encouraged to show their school spirit by wearing school colors, Greek letters, etc.

Discount tickets for HBCU alumni, faculty, staff, etc. can be purchased online, or call the NCO Box Office for group bookings at 919.792.3853.

Current college students can purchase tickets for just $15 through the Box Office.

Francesca Zambello She is an internationally recognized director of opera and theater, her work has been seen at the Metropolitan Opera, la Scala, Bolshoi, Covent Garden, Munich Staatsoper, Paris Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and English National Opera.

She has staged plays and musicals on Broadway, Royal National Theatre, BAM, Guthrie Theater, Vienna's Raimund Theater, Bregenz Festival, Sydney Festival, and Disneyland. She received the San Francisco Opera Medal for Artistic Excellence for 30 years of artistic contributions to the company.

In 2020, she received the Knighthood of the Order of the Star of Italy for her contribution to Italian culture. She was awarded the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from the French government, and the Russian Federation's medal for Service to Culture.

Her theatrical honors include Olivier Awards, Evening Standard Awards, French Grand Prix des Critiques, Helpmann Award, Green Room Award, and the Golden Mask in Russia.

She began her career as the Artistic Director of the Skylight Opera Theatre and as an assistant director to the late Jean-Pierre Ponnelle. An American who grew up in Europe, she speaks French, Italian, German and Russian. She is a graduate of Colgate University where she has also received an Honorary Doctorate.

What inspired your decision to direct The Barber of Seville?

I have loved this opera for years because of the comedy and the incredible music that worms into your head! There are so few comic operas in the repertory that to have a jewel like this is always a joy to rediscover. Rossini, taking from the play by Beaumarchais was able to capture and create strong characters with big hearts. The protagonist, Figaro, is someone everyone is in love with because he is the underdog who survives and manages to solve all the situations of everyone around him. It is always a joy to encounter this work with new performers because everyone always brings something of themselves to this unforgettable and infectious story.

How does directing an opera like The Barber of Seville differ from your work on Broadway or other theatre productions?

When one is directing a classic like this, I don't think there is much difference between the style or the approach. The Barber of Seville is in a way the Italian version of a musical. Or one could say one hundred years after it was written we start to see American musicals emerging from composers influenced by the European composers. It has multiple scenes, dynamic characters with individual voices, and moves at a very fast pace required many fluid transitions then one finds in more serious, or dramatic operas. My approach to directing this was to make it incredibly fluid and strong colors to define the spaces visually. I have added a group of Commedia del Arte performers who transition us from scene to scene, but also bring a wonderful sense of comedy to support the central action.

What elements in this production do you think will particularly appeal to first-time opera-goers?

This is a perfect opera for those in the know as well as those discovering the art form. The story is fun, the characters have heart, the music is catchy and the visuals are beautiful and communicate the sunny world of Spain. The costumes are set in the 19th century and the group of clowns keeps things rolling along!

What do you hope the audience will take away from this production of The Barber of Seville?

I want the audience to go away, having had a great time, having laughed and cried a little bit and be able to go out and share this experience with other people. It's no secret we are living in complex times and a work like this takes you away into a fun filled couple of hours that offer our ears and hearts a refreshing change.

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