BARBER OF SEVILLE IN ENGLISH

The Barber of Seville is one of the greatest operas, and comic operas especially. But comedy in a foreign language is not very effective. To make Rossini’s masterpiece more accessible to people who find looking at surtitles (or English captions in foreign movies) tiresome, the Comic Opera Guild commissioned an English version by Thomas Petiet for its 2016 production. Not a literal translation, this is an imagining the show as though it had originally been written in English. Laughter from audiences at this touring production have justified this approach. The production features soprano Natalie Emptage as Rosina, tenor Thomas Ciluffo as Almaviva, bass Michael Smith as Bartolo, baritone Chy Billings as Figaro, mezzo Dorothy Duensing as Berta and baritone Thomas Petiet as Basilio. The opera was conducted by Nada Radakovich and directed by Mitch Gillett. For more information on recordings of comic operas and operettas, visit