Opera House: a very diverse “Barber”

The State Opera is “today a very colorful opera” with neon lettering on its front. Indeed, they kept this ad. At least with the new “Barbiere di Siviglia”, which was shown yesterday evening, directed by Herbert Fritsch.

Vienna wants to catch Rossini fever again, and that became very clear that evening. Along with Juan Diego Flores as Count Almaviva, Vasilisa Berzanskaya as Rosina, Etienne Dupuy as Figaro and Eldar Abdrazakov as Don Basilio were celebrated. Paolo Bordogna was almost a cunning Bartolo, just as he took the joy of playing in this colorful, well-lit but at the same time minimalist theater. It was the actors’ performances that should have been the focus of Fritsch’s colorful Verner-Panton design.

But in the end, Michele Mariotti gained the most approval at his Vienna premiere on the catwalk. His reading of Giachino Rossini looks at the tradition of this successful opera with a twinkle in his eye and acquires new nuances from it. This is clearly an asset to the state opera repertoire.

(Detailed review will appear in the morning)