Blog Ten-Rossini's "The Barber of Seville"

I chose two acts from the same play of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville”:


The first act appears to be the barber himself, while the second act shows Rosina, a beautiful and wealthy woman who has been locked away from society. A link between the music and the story is quite visible: for example, when the mood changes to happy, the tempo increases and facial expressions accompany it; these are known as cabalettas. On the other hand, when the mood moves to somber, the tempo slows and tones lower; these are known as cantabiles. Both acts that I chose seem to be cabaletta arias, so a happy solo in the play. The first the act contains a “Rossini Crescendo” which was known as a building up of excitement by repeating a single word. In this case, the word is “Figaro” which means barber in Italian. On the second video, Rossina’s aria, she appears to have received some gifts. As the tension builds when she is about to unwrap the gifts, her pitch begins to get higher and higher and the speed of her singing increases as well. The stage and props in the second scene also play a large part in explaining the story. For example, when Rossina receives the presents she begins on a second floor balcony and almost seems reluctant to come down, which shows the story’s idea that she had been cooped up in her room by her parents. Rossini’s inclination for theater as opposed to the usual complete focus on music definitely brought a new spin on opera.