Rossini, Gioachino - Overture to the 'Barber of Seville'

£22.00 only

The Overture to the 'Barber of Seville' , arguably Rossini's most famous, was not originally composed for this opera buffa . Rossini was short of time, so he used an overture he had previously written. He signed a contract for the opera in December 1815, when he was in Rome producing his Torvaldo e Dorliska . The librettist of that opera wrote a new version of the classic Beaumarchais comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which had already been treated operatically in a popular work by Paisiello. The première of this new Rossini opera (under the title ' Almaviva, o sia L'inutile precauzione' ) took place in February 1816. It seems likely that this first performance, put together in great haste (only two months elapsed between the signing of the contract and opening night), was very sloppy and failed to do justice to Rossini’s score. Thankfully it did not take long for Rossini’s mercurial music to win its permanent place in the repertoire.

This arrangement by Helen Vollam is featured on our CD Enigma . It is scored for alto trombone (alto clef), 2 tenors (tenor clef) and bass trombone (bass clef).

Level: Advanced

Duration: 8 minutes