San Francisco Opera Will Perform THE BARBER OF SEVILLE This Summer
Conductor Benjamin Manis leads two international casts in director Emilio Sagi's staging at War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco Opera's 2026 Summer Season will open May 28 with one of opera's most enduring musical comedies, Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville (Il Barbiere di Siviglia). Benjamin Manis conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and two international casts in the Company's popular staging by Spanish director Emilio Sagi.
Rossini hastily composed The Barber of Seville in 13 days to meet an impresario's deadline in 1816. Since its premiere in Rome—a notorious fiasco where nothing seemed to go right—the opera has been a favorite with generations of audiences for more than two centuries and remains one of the art form's most-performed works worldwide. The opera's story follows the charismatic jack-of-all-trades, Figaro, who helps a pair of young lovers outwit an overbearing guardian to be together. Rossini's inimitable talent for melody is on full display throughout the score of The Barber of Seville, which includes such memorable arias as Figaro's “Largo al factotum,” Rosina's “Una voce poco fa,” the Count's tour-de-force “Cessa di più resistere” and the comedic trio “Zitti, zitti, piano, piano.”
Emilio Sagi's “colorful, exuberant” (San Francisco Chronicle) vision, a co-production of San Francisco Opera and Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, was introduced in 2013 and revived in 2015. The Chronicle praised its visual transformation on stage: “Llorenç Corbella's unit set and Pepa Ojanguren's costumes begin of sun-splashed white, then segue to a riot of color by the time the final curtain falls on a celebratory fireworks display.” Following his Company debut leading a sold-out run of Bizet's Carmen in 2024, Benjamin Manis returns to conduct. Gary Marder is the lighting designer. Chorus Director John Keene prepares the San Francisco Opera Chorus, and Company Dance Master Colm Seery restages Nuria Castejón's original choreography.
The title role of Seville's barber and multi-talented fixer is shared by American baritones Joshua Hopkins and Justin Austin. Joshua Hopkins made his Company debut in 2018 as Harry Bailey in the San Francisco Opera co-commission It's a Wonderful Life by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer. Debuting baritone Justin Austin scored a recent hit as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with LA Opera, “His lithe and limber baritone a perfect weight for Mozart's demands” (Parterre Box).
Russian mezzo-soprano and double prize winner at the 2019 Operalia competition Maria Kataeva makes her American debut as Rosina. Sharing the role is Chinese mezzo-soprano Hongni Wu, who recently appeared as the Crab General and Venus Star in the world premiere of Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang's The Monkey King last fall.
Rosina's dashing suitor, Count Almaviva, will be performed by two tenors who are each making house debuts. South African Levy Sekgapane is among the leading Rossini tenors of his generation. American Jack Swanson recently won plaudits for his Almaviva.
The role of Doctor Bartolo will be performed by baritone Renato Girolami and bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi, both of whom delighted audiences as Dr. Dulcamara in San Francisco Opera's 2023 performances of Donizetti's The Elixir of Love. Girolami made his Company debut in that production, while Carfizzi's tenure with San Francisco Opera since 2001 has included performances as Paolo in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra and Henry Kissinger in John Adams' Nixon in China.
Milanese bass Riccardo Fassi makes his Company debut as the music teacher, Don Basilio. San Francisco Opera Medal recipient Catherine Cook reprises her portrayal of the maid Berta, a role which she has performed in each of the Company's presentations of The Barber for Seville since 1996, including the 2021 Marin drive-in performances during the pandemic. Second-year Adler Fellow Olivier Zerouali and third-year Adler Fellow Thomas Kinch portray Fiorello and an Officer, respectively, and first-year Adler Gabriel Natal-Báez makes his Company stage debut as Ambrogio.
The third performance of The Barber of Seville on Friday, June 5 at 7:30 p.m. Pacific will be livestreamed. Tickets, which includes a 48-hour on-demand viewing window that begins June 7 at 10 a.m. PT, are $25. For more information, visit sfopera.com/digital/livestream.
On Wednesday, June 17, the Company's popular Encounter series returns with The Barber of Seville Encounter. Following Act I of The Barber of Seville, audience members emerge from the theater into the Opera House's transformed lobby and hallway spaces for an immersive exploration into the opera's themes of disguise, young love and playful scheming. Part opera, part party, the Encounter is recommended for audiences ages 21 and over.
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