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{{short description|1816 opera by Gioachino Rossini}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Infobox opera
| name              = Il barbiere di Siviglia<br />The Barber of Seville
| type              = [[Opera buffa]]
| composer          = [[Gioachino Rossini]]
| image             = Alexandre Fragonard - Scène de L'orage (Barbier de Séville).jpg
| image_upright     = 1.3
| caption           = 1830 lithograph by Alexandre Fragonard
| native_name       = ''{{lang|it|Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione}}''
| librettist        = [[Cesare Sterbini]]
| based_on          = [[Pierre Beaumarchais]]'s comedy ''[[The Barber of Seville (play)|Le Barbier de Séville]]''
| language          = Italian
| premiere_date     = {{Start date|1816|02|20|df=y}}
| premiere_location = [[Teatro Argentina]], Rome
}}
'''''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution''''' ({{langx|it|'''Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione'''}} {{IPA|it|il barˈbjɛːre di siˈviʎʎa osˈsiːa liˈnuːtile prekautˈtsjoːne|}}) is an ''[[opera buffa]]'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by [[Gioachino Rossini]] with an Italian [[libretto]] by [[Cesare Sterbini]]. The libretto was based on [[Pierre Beaumarchais]]'s French comedy ''[[The Barber of Seville (play)|The Barber of Seville]]'' (1775). The premiere of Rossini's opera (under the title ''Almaviva, o sia L'inutile precauzione'') took place on 20 February 1816 at the [[Teatro Argentina]], Rome,<ref>{{Almanacco|dmy=20-02-1816|match=Il barbiere di Siviglia}}</ref> with designs by [[Angelo Toselli]].

Rossini's ''Barber of Seville'' is considered to be one of the greatest masterpieces of comedy within music, and has been described as the opera buffa of all "opere buffe". After two centuries, it remains a popular work.<ref>Fisher, Burton D., ''The Barber of Seville'' (Opera Classics Library Series). Grand Rapids: Opera Journeys, 2005.</ref>

==Composition history==
{{Listen|type=music|header=Overture|filename=PDP-CH - New York Philharmonic - Arturo Toscanini - The Barber of Seville - Gioachino Rossini - Overture - Part 1 - Electrola-ej576-42-846.flac|title=Part 1 (3:41)|filename2=PDP-CH - New York Philharmonic - Arturo Toscanini - The Barber of Seville - Gioachino Rossini - Overture - Part 2 - Electrola-ej576-42-757.flac|title2=Part 2 (4:01)|description2=Performed in 1929 by the [[New York Philharmonic]] conducted by [[Arturo Toscanini]]}}
Rossini's opera recounts the events of the first of the [[Pierre Beaumarchais#Figaro plays|three plays]] by French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais that revolve around the clever and enterprising character named [[The Barber of Seville (play)#The character of Figaro|Figaro]], the barber of the title. [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s opera ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]],'' composed 30 years earlier in 1786, is based on the [[The Marriage of Figaro (play)|second part]] of the Beaumarchais trilogy. (This play was originally conceived as an [[opéra comique]], but was rejected as such by the [[Comédie-Italienne]].){{sfn|Weinstock|1968|p=54}}{{sfn|C. Osborne|1994|p=57}} The play as it is now known was premiered in 1775 by the [[Comédie-Française]] at the [[Théâtre des Tuileries]] in [[Paris]].{{sfn|Cordier|1883|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=EB0CAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA13 13]}}

Other operas based on the first play were composed by [[Giovanni Paisiello]] ([[The Barber of Seville (Paisiello)|in 1782]]), by [[Nicolas Isouard]] in 1796, and then by [[Francesco Morlacchi]] in 1816. Though the work of Paisiello triumphed for a time, only Rossini's version has stood the test of time and continues to be a mainstay of operatic repertoire. On 11 November 1868, two days before Rossini's death, the composer {{ill|Constantino Dall'Argine|es}} (1842–1877) premiered an opera based on the same libretto as Rossini's work,{{sfn|Weinstock|1968|p=366}} bearing a dedication to Rossini.<ref name="NuovaAntologia">{{cite journal|last=D'Arcais|first=F.|title=Rassegna Musicale|journal=Direzione della Nuova Antologia|year=1869|volume=10|page=404|location=Firenze|language=it}}</ref> The premiere was not a failure, but critics condemned the "audacity" of the young composer and the work is now forgotten.<ref name="NuovaAntologia" /><ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Gazzetta Piemontese|date=17 November 1868|page=2|language= it |title= [Article]<!-- |title missing -->}}</ref>

Rossini was well known for being remarkably productive, completing an average of two operas per year for 19 years, and in some years writing as many as four. Musicologists believe that, true to form, the music for ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'' was composed in just under three weeks,<ref name=Osborne>{{harvnb|R. Osborne|2007|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hFR1f2PURh0C&pg=PA39 38–41] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140617233244/http://books.google.com/books?id=hFR1f2PURh0C&pg=PA39|date=17 June 2014}}}}.</ref> although the famous [[overture]] was actually recycled from two earlier Rossini operas, ''[[Aureliano in Palmira]]'' and ''[[Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra|Elizabeth, Queen of England]]'' and thus contains none of the thematic material in ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'' itself.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/2003/05/11/for-elisabetta-et-al-a-long-overdue-introduction/db52ad29-89f2-4444-8e58-62040ad42c61/ "For ''Elisabetta'' et al., a Long-Overdue Introduction"] by [[Tim Page (music critic)|Tim Page]], ''[[The Washington Post]]'', 11 May 2003</ref>

==Performance history==
[[Luigi Zamboni]], for whom Rossini wrote the role of Figaro, had urged Rossini and Francesco Sforza-Cesarini, the cash-strapped impresario of the Teatro Argentina, to engage his sister-in-law, [[Elisabetta Gafforini]], as Rosina. However, her fee was too high and in the end they settled on [[Geltrude Righetti]].<ref name = "Rose">Rose, Michael (2013). [https://books.google.com/books?id=fvCmP5szeMoC&pg=PA130 ''The Birth of an Opera: Fifteen Masterpieces from Poppea to Wozzeck''], pp. 130–131. W. W. Norton & Company. {{ISBN|0393089657}}</ref> The premiere of Rossini's opera at the [[Teatro Argentina]] in Rome{{sfn|C. Osborne|1994|page=[https://archive.org/details/belcantooperasof0000osbo/page/52 52]}} on 20 February 1816 was a disaster: the audience hissed and jeered throughout, and several on-stage accidents occurred.<ref name=Osborne/> Furthermore, many of the audience were supporters of one of Rossini's rivals, the veteran [[Giovanni Paisiello]], who played on [[mob mentality]] to provoke the rest of the audience to dislike the opera.<ref name=Osborne/> Paisiello had already composed ''[[The Barber of Seville (Paisiello)|The Barber of Seville]]'' and took Rossini's new version to be an affront to his version. In particular, Paisiello's admirers were displeased with the latter inasmuch as they "were used in the way of [[Opera buffa|buffo music]] to the style in which the pathetic often mingles with and sometimes effaces the comic".<ref>[http://www.musicwithease.com/rossini-barber-seville.html ''The Barber of Seville''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714141044/http://www.musicwithease.com/rossini-barber-seville.html |date=14 July 2011 }} at musicwithease.com</ref> The second performance, however, was successful.<ref name=Osborne/> The original French play, ''Le Barbier de Séville'', had a similar story: poorly received at first, only to become a favorite within a week.<ref>[https://www.victorianopera.com.au/images/resources/The-Barber-of-Seville-Education-Resource_FINAL.pdf "''The Barber of Secille'' – Education Resource"] by Sofia Laursen and Ioanna Salmanidis, p. 11, [[Victorian Opera (Melbourne)|Victorian Opera]]</ref>

The opera was first performed in England on 10 March 1818 at the [[Her Majesty's Theatre|King's Theatre]] in London in Italian, soon followed on 13 October at the [[Covent Garden Theatre]] by an English version translated by [[John Fawcett (actor)|John Fawcett]] and [[Daniel Terry]]. It was first performed in America on 3 May 1819 in English (probably the Covent Garden version) at the [[Park Theatre (Manhattan)|Park Theatre]] in [[New York City|New York]].{{sfn|Loewenberg|1978|loc=columns 643–646}} It was given in French at the [[Théâtre d'Orléans]] in New Orleans on 4 March 1823,{{sfn|Kmen|1966|p=97}} and became the first opera ever to be performed in Italian in New York, when Manuel Garcia (who played Almaviva) and his Italian troupe opened their first season there with ''Il barbiere'' on 29 November 1825 at the Park Theatre. The cast of eight had three other members of his family, including the 17-year-old Maria-Felicia, later known as [[Maria Malibran]].{{sfn|Sommer|1992|p=586}}

The role of Rosina was originally written for a [[contralto]]. According to [[Music criticism|music critic]] Richard Osborne, writing in ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]'', "it is important to record the degree to which singers have sometimes distorted Rossini's intentions. The most serious distortion has been the upward [[Transposition (music)|transposition]] of the role of Rosina, turning her from a lustrous alto into a pert soprano."<ref name=OsborneR311>{{harvnb|R. Osborne|1992|p=311}}</ref> However, it has also been noted that Rossini, who frequently altered his music for specific singers, wrote a new aria for the second act for [[Joséphine Fodor|Joséphine Fodor-Mainvielle]], a soprano who had sung Rosina in the 1818 London premiere, and sang the new aria c. 1820 at the [[Théâtre-Italien]] in Paris, where it was published.<ref>The aria is included as an appendix to the critical edition of the opera edited by Patricia Brauner. See {{harvnb|Gossett|2009|loc=min. 19–25}}, on the new critical edition of ''Il barbiere di Siviglia''; see also "Fodor-Mainvielle, Joséphine" in {{harvnb|Kutsch|Riemens|2003|pp=1500–1501}}.</ref> According to [[Alberto Zedda]], the author of the first critical edition of the opera, 'the transposition of the part of Rosina from contralto to soprano entails the need to transfer to a lower voice the role of the [[seconda donna]], Berta, written by Rossini for a soprano voice. A mezzo-soprano Berta will find the [[tessitura]] of her aria "Il vecchiotto cerca moglie" uncomfortable, and the climb to C<sub>6</sub> required at the conclusion of the grand concertato of the first-act finale rather difficult to achieve'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Problemi di interpretazione rossiniana |others= ''Rosina: contralto o soprano?'' |url=https://www.albertozedda.com/problemi-di-interpretazione-rossiniana |website=albertozedda.com |location= |publisher= |access-date=7 January 2025 |language=it|quote=La trasposizione a un soprano del ruolo di Rosina ha comportato la necessità di trasferire a una voce piú grave il ruolo della seconda donna, Berta, da Rossini assegnato al soprano. Una Berta mezzosoprano troverà incomoda la tessitura della sua aria “Il vecchiotto cerca moglie”, e difficilmente praticabile la salita al do5 prescritta alla conclusione del grande concertato del Finale I}}</ref>

The singing lesson in act 2 has often been turned into "a show-stopping cabaret".<ref name=OsborneR311/> [[Adelina Patti]] was known to include [[Luigi Arditi]]'s "Il bacio", the Bolero from Verdi's ''[[I vespri siciliani]]'', the Shadow Song from Meyerbeer's ''[[Dinorah]]'', and [[Henry Bishop (composer)|Henry Bishop]]'s "[[Home! Sweet Home!]]". [[Nellie Melba]] followed suit, accompanying herself on the piano in the final song.<ref name=OsborneR311 /> [[Pauline Viardot]] began the practice of inserting [[Alexander Alyabyev]]'s "Nightingale". In a recording of a [[La Scala]] performance in 1956, [[Maria Callas]] sang a shortened version of "Contro un cor", [[transposition (music)|transposed]] up a tone, in E.<ref>[https://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/rossini-il-barbiere-di-siviglia "Review"] by Richard Osborne, ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone]]''</ref>

Once after Patti had sung a particularly florid rendition of the opera's legitimate aria, "Una voce poco fa", Rossini is reported to have asked her: "Very nice, my dear, and who wrote the piece you have just performed?"<ref name=OsborneR311 />

The piece is a staple of the operatic repertoire<ref>{{cite web|title=Opera Statistics|url=http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en#opera|publisher=[[Operabase]]|access-date=8 May 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917120110/http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en#opera|archive-date=17 September 2011}}</ref> Because of a scarcity of true contraltos,<ref>Myers, Eric, [http://www.operanews.com/operanews/templates/content.aspx?id=12797 "Sweet and Low: The case of the vanishing contralto] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718034641/http://www.operanews.com/operanews/templates/content.aspx?id=12797 |date=18 July 2011 }}, ''[[Opera News]]'', December 1996.</ref> the role of Rosina has most frequently been sung by a [[mezzo-soprano|coloratura mezzo-soprano]] (with or without pitch alterations, depending on the singer), and has in the past, and occasionally in more recent times, been sung by [[coloratura soprano]]s such as [[Marcella Sembrich]], [[Maria Callas]], [[Roberta Peters]], [[Gianna D'Angelo]], [[Victoria de los Ángeles]], [[Beverly Sills]], [[Lily Pons]], [[Diana Damrau]], [[Edita Gruberová]], [[Kathleen Battle]] and [[Luciana Serra]]. Famous recent mezzo-soprano Rosinas include [[Marilyn Horne]], [[Teresa Berganza]], [[Frederica von Stade]], [[Lucia Valentini Terrani]], [[Susanne Marsee]], [[Cecilia Bartoli]], [[Joyce DiDonato]], [[Jennifer Larmore]], [[Elīna Garanča]], [[Isabel Leonard]] and [[Vesselina Kasarova]]. Famous contralto Rosinas include [[Ewa Podleś]] who made her stage debut in that role.<ref>[http://www.roh.org.uk/people/ewa-podles "Ewa Podleś"], [[Royal Opera House]]</ref>

==Roles==
{| class="wikitable"
|+{{sronly|Roles, voice types, premiere cast}}
!Role<ref>Roles are listed as given in the [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bAREAAAAcAAJ/page/n8 <!-- pg=4 --> 1816 libretto] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310024025/https://books.google.com/books?id=bAREAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA4 |date=10 March 2017 }} (Rome: Crispino Puccinelli).</ref>
![[Voice type]]<ref>The voice types given here refer to the original cast as listed in a 2010 program book from [[La Fenice|Fondazione Teatro La Fenice di Venezia]] (see [https://web.archive.org/web/20101129081442/http://teatrolafenice.it/public/libretti/106_6198Barbiere_v4.pdf ''Il barbiere di Siviglia''], p. 37 [pdf p. 51]), except for Figaro. Although the program book lists Figaro as a bass, all other sources cited here have baritone.</ref>
!Premiere cast, 20 February 1816<br />[[Conducting|Conductor]]: Gioachino Rossini
|-
| Count Almaviva
| [[tenor]]
| [[Manuel García (tenor)|Manuel Garcia]]
|-
| Bartolo, ''doctor of medicine, Rosina's guardian''
| [[bass (voice type)|bass]]
| Bartolomeo Botticelli
|-
| Rosina, ''rich pupil in Bartolo's house''
| [[contralto]]<ref>Originally written for contralto according to a [https://web.archive.org/web/20101129081442/http://teatrolafenice.it/public/libretti/106_6198Barbiere_v4.pdf 2010 program book] from [[La Fenice]], as well as {{harvnb|R. Osborne|1992|p=311}}. Contemporary printed scores tend to list Rosina as a mezzo-soprano role, and the role is listed as mezzo-soprano by {{harvnb|C. Osborne|1994|p=52}}; {{harvnb|Gossett|Brauner|2001|p=776}}; and {{harvnb|Kobbé|1997|p=667}}. Actual casting practice of opera houses varies widely. Some mezzo-sopranos can sing it as originally written without alteration, but a popular transposed version is often used when a soprano is cast in the role. Singers of all three voice types have found considerable success with the role ({{harvnb|Foil|Berger|2006}}).</ref>
| [[Geltrude Righetti-Giorgi]]
|-
| Figaro, ''barber''
| [[baritone]]<ref>Listed as baritone by {{harvnb|R. Osborne|1992|p=311}}; {{harvnb|C. Osborne|1994|p=52}}; {{harvnb|Gossett|Brauner|2001|p=776}}; and {{harvnb|Kobbé|1997|p=310}}.</ref>
| [[Luigi Zamboni]]
|-
| Basilio, ''Rosina's music teacher''
| bass
| {{ill|Zenobio Vitarelli|ca}}
|-
| Berta, ''old governess in Bartolo's house''
| [[soprano]]<ref>Also listed as soprano by {{Harvnb|Gossett|Brauner|2001|p=776}}; {{harvnb|C. Osborne|1994|p=52}}; and {{harvnb|Kobbé|1997|p=667}}. In modern performance the role of Berta is also sung by mezzo-sopranos, and it is listed as mezzo-soprano by {{harvnb|R. Osborne|1992|p=311}}. See also, ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'' on the [http://69.18.170.204/archives/frame.htm MetOpera Database] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200402/http://69.18.170.204/archives/frame.htm |date=3 March 2016 }} (performance archives of the [[Metropolitan Opera]])</ref>
| Elisabetta Loyselet
|-
| Fiorello, ''Almaviva's servant''
| bass<ref>Also listed as bass by {{harvnb|R. Osborne|1992|p=311}}; {{harvnb|C. Osborne|1994|p=52}}; and {{harvnb|Kobbé|1997|p=667}}. Listed as baritone by {{harvnb|Gossett|Brauner|2001|p=776}}.</ref>
| Paolo Biagelli
|-
| Ambrogio, ''Bartolo's servant''
| bass<ref>The very elderly servant yawns aloud a few times, and speaks one or two words expressing his desire to sleep.</ref>
|
|-
| Police Sergeant ("Officer")
| bass<ref>He has only one solo line, but it's a very significant one.</ref>
|
|-
| A notary
| silent
|
|-
| colspan="3" |Chorus: ''Officers, soldiers, street-musicians''
|}

==Synopsis==
:Place: [[Seville]], Spain<ref>The plot synopsis is partly based on {{harvnb|Melitz|1921|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=uwmXW9akM1wC&pg=PA29 29–31] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170310002235/https://books.google.com/books?id=uwmXW9akM1wC&pg=PA29 |date=10 March 2017}}}}, with updates, clarifications, and modifications to its often out-of-date language.</ref>
:Time: 17th century{{sfn|R. Osborne|1992|p=309}}

===Act 1===
''The square in front of Bartolo's house''

In a public square outside Bartolo's house a band of musicians and a poor student named Lindoro are serenading, to no avail, the window of Rosina ("[[Ecco, ridente in cielo]]"; "There, laughing in the sky"). Lindoro, who is really the young Count Almaviva in disguise, hopes to make the beautiful Rosina love him for himself – not his money. Almaviva pays off the musicians who then depart, leaving him to brood alone. Rosina is the young ward of the grumpy, elderly Bartolo and she is allowed very little freedom because Bartolo plans to marry her once she is of age and thus appropriate her considerable dowry. 

Figaro approaches singing (Aria: "[[Largo al factotum]] della città"; "Make way for the [[wikt:factotum|factotum]] of the city"). Since Figaro used to be a servant of the Count, the Count asks him for assistance in helping him meet Rosina, offering him money should he be successful in arranging this (duet: "All'idea di quel metallo"; "At the idea of that metal"). Figaro advises the Count to disguise himself as a drunken soldier, ordered to be billeted with Bartolo, so as to gain entrance to the house. For this suggestion, Figaro is richly rewarded.

{{Listen|type=music|filename=Dobrovolskaya Kavatina Rozini The Barber of Seville 1914.ogg|title="Una voce poco fa"|description=Aurelia Dobrovolskaya (lyric coloratura soprano), 1914}}
''A room in Bartolo's house with four doors''

The scene begins with Rosina's [[cavatina]], "Una voce poco fa" ("A voice a little while ago"). (This aria was originally written in the key of [[E major]], but it is sometimes transposed a [[semitone]] up into [[F major]] for [[coloratura soprano]]s to perform, giving them the chance to sing extra, almost traditional, [[cadenza]]s, sometimes reaching high Ds or even Fs.)
{{Listen|type=music|filename=Rossini La calunnia.ogg|title="La calunnia è un venticello"|description=[[Feodor Chaliapin]] }}
Knowing the Count only as Lindoro, Rosina writes to him because she is interested in getting to know him better. As she is leaving the room, Bartolo enters with the music teacher Basilio. Bartolo is suspicious of the Count, and Basilio advises that he be put out of the way by creating false rumours about him (this aria, "La calunnia è un venticello" – "Calumny is a little breeze" – is almost always sung a [[Major second|tone]] lower than the original [[D major]]).

When the two have gone, Rosina and Figaro enter. Figaro asks Rosina to write a few encouraging words to Lindoro, which she has actually already written. (Duet: "Dunque io son...tu non m'inganni?"; "Then I'm the one...you're not fooling me?"). Although surprised by Bartolo, Rosina manages to fool him, but he remains suspicious. (Aria: "A un dottor della mia sorte"; "To a doctor of my class").

Count Almaviva, disguised as a soldier and pretending to be drunk, enters the house and demands to be quartered there. In fear of the drunken man, Berta the housekeeper rushes to Bartolo for protection. Bartolo tells the "soldier" that he (Bartolo) has an official exemption which excuses him from the requirement to quarter soldiers in his home. Almaviva pretends to be too drunk and belligerent to understand, and dares Bartolo to brawl. While Bartolo searches his cluttered desk for the official document which would prove his exemption, Almaviva whispers to Rosina that he is Lindoro in disguise, and passes a love-letter to her. Bartolo suspiciously demands to know what is in the piece of paper in Rosina's hands, but she fools him by handing over her laundry list. Bartolo and the Count argue loudly. Basilio enters; then Figaro, who warns that the noise of the argument is rousing the whole neighborhood. Finally, the noise attracts the attention of the Officer of the Watch and his troops, who crowd into the room. Bartolo demands that the Officer arrest the "drunken soldier". The Officer starts to do so, but Almaviva quietly reveals his true identity to the Officer, and he (the Officer) backs off. Bartolo and Basilio are astonished and mystified; Figaro laughs quietly at them. (Finale: "Fredda ed immobile, come una statua"; "Cold and still, just like a statue"). The confusion intensifies and causes everyone to suffer headaches and auditory hallucinations ("Mi par d'esser con la testa in un'orrida fucina; dell'incudini sonore l'importuno strepitar"; "My head seems to be in a fiery forge: the sound of the anvils deafens the ear").

===Act 2===
''A room in Bartolo's house with a piano''

Count Almaviva again appears at the doctor's house, this time disguised as Don Alonso, a priest and singing tutor who is substituting for the supposedly ailing Basilio. To gain Bartolo's trust, Don Alonso tells him he has intercepted a note from Lindoro to Rosina, and says that Lindoro is a servant of Count Almaviva who has dishonorable intentions towards Rosina. While Almaviva pretends to give Rosina her singing lesson ("Contro un cor"; "Against a heart"), Figaro arrives to shave Bartolo. Not wanting to leave Rosina alone with the singing teacher, Bartolo insists Figaro shave him right there in the music room. Basilio suddenly appears for his scheduled music lesson, but he is bribed by a full purse from Almaviva and persuaded to leave again, with much discussion of how ill he looks. (Quintet: "Don Basilio! – Cosa veggo!"; "Don Basilio! – What do I see?"). Bartolo overhears the lovers conspiring, and angrily drives everybody away. Berta vents about the crazy household ("Il vecchiotto cerca moglie").

''A room in Bartolo's house'' ''with a grille looking out onto the square''. 

Bartolo orders Basilio to have the notary ready to marry him to Rosina that evening. Basilio leaves and Rosina arrives. Bartolo shows Rosina the letter she wrote to "Lindoro" and persuades her that this is proof that Lindoro is merely a flunky of Almaviva and is toying with her at Almaviva's behest. Rosina believes the story and agrees to marry Bartolo.

During an instrumental interlude, the music creates a thunder storm to indicate the passage of time. Almaviva and Figaro climb up a ladder to the balcony and enter Rosina's room through a window. Rosina accuses Almaviva, whom she believes to be Lindoro, of betraying her. Almaviva reveals his identity and the two reconcile. While Almaviva and Rosina are enraptured by one another, Figaro keeps urging them to leave. Two people are heard approaching the front door. They are Basilio and the notary. The Count, Rosina, and Figaro attempt to leave by way of the ladder, but discover it has been removed. Using bribes and threats, Almaviva coerces the notary into marrying him to Rosina, with Basilio and Figaro as the legally required witnesses. Bartolo barges in, accompanied by the Officer and the men of the watch, but too late; the marriage is already complete. The befuddled Bartolo is pacified by being allowed to retain Rosina's dowry. The opera concludes with an anthem to love ("Amor e fede eterna, si vegga in noi regnar!"; "May love and faith eternally be seen to reign in us").

==Recordings==
{{Main|The Barber of Seville discography}}

==References==
===Notes===
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book|last=Cordier|first=Henri|author-link=Henri Cordier|year=1883|title=Bibliographie des oeuvres de Beaumarchais|location=Paris|publisher=A. Quantin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EB0CAAAAQAAJ&pg=PP8}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Foil|Berger|2006}}|reference=Foil, David; Berger, William (2006). Text accompanying ''Rossini: The Barber of Seville''. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal. {{ISBN|978-1-57912-618-6}}. {{OCLC|840078233}}}}
* {{cite book|last1=Gossett|first1=Philip|author1-link=Philip Gossett|last2=Brauner|first2=Patricia|year=2001|chapter=''The Barber of Seville''|editor-link=Amanda Holden (writer)|editor-last=Holden|editor-first=Amanda|title=The New Penguin Opera Guide|location=New York|publisher=Penguin Putnam|isbn=0-14-029312-4}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Gossett|2009}}|reference={{YouTube|PaSo_q2lFgg|2009 lecture "Ornamenting an Early Nineteenth-Century Opera"}}, by [[Philip Gossett]] of the [[University of Chicago]], Division of the Humanities, on the occasion of the publication of the new critical edition of ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'' {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325103641/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaSo_q2lFgg|date=25 March 2016}}}}
* {{cite book|last=Kmen|first=Henry A.|year=1966|title=Music in New Orleans: The Formative Years 1791–1841|location=Baton Rouge|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|isbn=9780807105481}}
* {{cite book|last=Kobbé|first=Gustav|author-link=Gustav Kobbé|year=1997|title-link=The Complete Opera Book|title=The New Kobbé's Opera Book|editor1=The Earl of Harewood|editor1-link=George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood|editor2=Antony Peattie|editor2-link=Antony Peattie|location=New York|publisher=G. P. Putnam's Sons|isbn=978-0-399-14332-8}}
* {{cite book|last1=Kutsch|first1=K. J.|author1-link=Karl-Josef Kutsch|last2=Riemens|first2=Leo|author2-link=Leo Riemens|year=2003|title=[[Großes Sängerlexikon]]|edition=fourth|language=de|location=Munich|publisher=K. G. Saur|isbn=9-783-598115981}}
* {{cite book|last=Loewenberg|first=Alfred|year=1978|title=Annals of Opera 1597–1940|edition=third, revised|location=Totowa, New Jersey|publisher=Rowman and Littlefield|isbn=978-0-87471-851-5}}
* {{cite book|last=Melitz|first=Leo|year=1921|title=The Opera Goer's Complete Guide|translator=Richard Salinger|location=Garden City, New York|publisher=Garden City Publishing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uwmXW9akM1wC&pg=PR3}}
* {{cite book|last=Osborne|first=Charles|author-link=Charles Osborne (music writer)|year=1994|url=https://archive.org/details/belcantooperasof0000osbo/|title=The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini|location=Portland, Oregon|publisher=Amadeus Press|isbn=0-931340-71-3|ref={{harvid|C. Osborne|1994}}}}
* {{cite book|last=Osborne|first=Richard|year=1992|chapter=''The Barber of Seville''|editor=Stanley Sadie|editor-link=Stanley Sadie|title=[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]|volume=1|location=London|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=1-56159-228-5|ref={{harvid|R. Osborne|1992}}}} Also at [[Grove Music Online]] {{doi|10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O900429}} {{subscription required}}
* {{cite book|last=Osborne|first=Richard|year=2007|title=Rossini: His Life and Works|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-518129-6|ref={{harvid|R. Osborne|2007}}}}
* {{cite book|last=Sommer|first=Susan T.|author-link=Susan T. Sommer|year=1992|chapter=New York|editor=Stanley Sadie|editor-link=Stanley Sadie|title=[[The New Grove Dictionary of Opera]]|volume=3|location=London|publisher=Macmillan|pages=585–592}}
* {{cite book|last=Weinstock|first=Herbert|author-link=Herbert Weinstock|year=1968|title=Rossini: A Biography|location=New York: Knopf|oclc=192614}} {{OCLC|250474431}}. Reprint (1987): New York: Limelight. {{ISBN|978-0-87910-071-1}}.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini)|The Barber of Seville}}
* [[Cesare Sterbini|Sterbini Romano, Cesare]] (1816). [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bAREAAAAcAAJ/page/n5 ''Almaviva o sia L'inutile precauzione ... Con Musica del Maestro Gioacchino Rossini''], libretto in Italian. Rome: Crispino Puccinelli.
* [http://opera.stanford.edu/Rossini/Barbiere/main.html Italian libretto] at stanford.edu
* [http://www.murashev.com/opera/Il_barbiere_di_Siviglia_libretto_Italian_English# English/Italian libretto] at murashev.com
* {{IMSLP|work=Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini, Gioacchino)|cname=''The Barber of Seville''}}
* [http://www.kultur-fibel.de/oper-der-barbier-von-sevilla-musik_rossini.htm ''Der Barbier von Sevilla''], Article with photos of a 2009 production at the [[Zürich Opera House]] {{in lang|de}}
* [https://opera-inside.com/il-barbiere-di-siviglia-by-gioacchino-rossini/ Il barbiere di Siviglia: online opera guide and synopsis]

{{Figaro Trilogy|state=collapsed}}
{{Gioachino Rossini}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber Of Seville, The}}
[[Category:The Barber of Seville| ]]
[[Category:Operas by Gioachino Rossini]]
[[Category:Opera buffa]]
[[Category:Italian-language operas]]
[[Category:1816 operas]]
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:Operas set in Seville]]
[[Category:Operas set in Spain]]
[[Category:Fictional hairdressers]]
[[Category:Operas based on plays]]
[[Category:Operas adapted into films]]
[[Category:Operas based on The Barber of Seville (play)]]