BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA, IL

Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina makes her Met role debut as Rosina, headlining an all-star cast

Rossini's beloved comic opera IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA with its dazzling music and sparkling wit, retakes the stage in Bartlett Sher’s madcap production. Mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina, who swept audiences away last season with her performances as Carmen, headlines a winning ensemble as the feisty heroine, Rosina, alongside high-flying tenor Jack Swanson, in his Met debut, as her secret beloved, Count Almaviva. Baritone Andrey Zhilikhovsky stars as Figaro, the titular barber of Seville, with bass-baritone Peter Kálmán as Dr. Bartolo and bass Alexander Vinogradov as Don Basilio rounding out the principal cast. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts.

"The longest and loudest ovation of the night followed, which a beaming Swanson ultimately stilled with his right hand. A new tenor is in town. In her Met role debut, mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina was an equally dazzling Rosina, full of fun and cunning." (New York Classical Review)

"In his company debut, Giacomo Sagripanti made a strong impression. Following a dazzling rendition of the overture, he elicited a delightfully fresh and exciting account of Rossini’s relentlessly tuneful score, with wisely judged tempo choices, exquisitely articulated playing, and a wide range of dynamics – making this outing of BARBIERE particularly blithe and bubbly." (Bachtrack)