The one thing we can count on every September is the Pafos Aphrodite Festival and the promise of a stellar, opera performance.
This year marks the twentieth festival of its kind and the cultural feast arrives a little earlier than usual with performances starting on August 31 and ending on September 2.
The performance this year is what may be described as the world’s most popular comic-opera Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The barber of Seville) by Gioachino Rossini. The opera, which will be performed at the Square of the Medieval Castle in Paphos, is an opera buffa in two acts with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais’s theatrical trilogy, Le Barbier de Séville. The performance in Paphos is a production by the Italian organisation CIALM – Teatro Lirico Italiano in collaboration with the Ventidio Basso Ascoli Piceno Theatre. The Cyprus Symphony Orchestra will also be participating.
The opera, directed by Lev Pugliese, is the tale of Count Almaviva who takes on the identity of a poor student to woo Rosina – a rich student – in the hope that she may fall in love with his character and not his money. Figaro the barber, who knows all the town’s secrets, tells Almaviva that Rosina is doctor Bartolo’s ward and he intends to marry her. The two come up with a plan to sneak Almaviva into Bartolo’s house so he can seduce Rosina. What follows is a tale of fun and romance.
Speaking about the opera, Pugliese said “since the very first listening and first careful reading of Rossini’s masterpiece, I felt the need to relocate the chaotic events of this special day for Figaro and his companions, in an environment that could help the libretto and the music to have full vent. Without wishing in any way to detract anything from the daring and exciting development of the story, I could not help focusing my attention on the music, and therefore on its composer.”
He said the Paphos setting was extremely apt. “The strong memory of the image of Rossini based on which this setting is inspired, could not be more relevant, given the fact that this year is the 150th anniversary of the death of the great composer from Pesaro. The location and the ample scenic space of Pafos Aphrodite Festival in Cyprus make it possible to further enhance the impressive scenic layout,” he said. “The semi-elliptical arrangement of scenic elements will allow the audience to appreciate the set-up in its entirety and to bind the libretto’s different environments with the sequence of events: nearly a ‘dollhouse’, where every room is, in fact, fully visible and inhabited in unison by the different and varied characters of the libretto.”
Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The barber of Seville)
Performance of the opera by Gioachino Rossini as part of the Pafos Aphrodite Festival. August 31 until September 2. Medieval castle square, Paphos. 8pm. €25, €40, €50 and €70. Simultaneous translation in Greek, English and Russian via subtitles. Tel: 26-822218
