Dr. Papanikolaou to Present Toledo Pre-Opera Talk

Who is the barber in the Barber of Seville? How did an Italian composer come to write an opera about a story that takes place in Spain, based on a play originally authored by a French playwright? How did artistic sabotage, contractual woes, unavoidable rivalry and claque disruptions contribute to its unsuccessful premiere in Rome in 1816? In spite of the fiasco on opening night, Il barbiere di Siviglia has been delighting audiences around the world for the past 200 hundred years, and is regarded as one of the greatest of all comic operas.

Dr. Eftychia Papanikolaou, Associate Professor of Musicology, invites audiences to join in this lively pre-opera talk an hour before this week’s two performances of Toledo Opera’s production of Gioachino Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Friday, October 7 at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 9 at 1 p.m. For more information please visit ToledoOpera.org.