Barber of Seville

So i watched my first opera today, Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Or, "The Barber of Seville", if you don't know how to speak Italian. Ever hear someone imitate opera singing and go something like "Figaro! Figaro! Figaroooo!"? Well, yeah, that originated from this opera. Figaro is the name of the barber, and no, he isn't a barber like we have. Barbers back when this was composed, 1815, did normal barberish hair stuff, as well as medical practices, pulling teeth, and plumbing. And in that particular song of his, he's bragging about how famous and good at barbering he is, but keeps getting interrupted by people asking for his attention. He pretty much says "Oh, blah, all I ever hear is 'Figaro! Figaro! Figarooo! Figaroooooo!'" What I find interesting, though, is that Figaro (arguably) isn't even the main character! But without spoiling anything, he helps a guy do a thing to do something for a person because that person doesn't want that thing to be done by someone else.

Here's the link to the YouTube videos I watched (with subtitles, if you had trouble reading the title of the opera). Part I and II both add up to, roughly, two and a half hours, so if you wanna watch it... Sit tight.




I really enjoyed it all. It's actually pretty funny, too! I'm not sure if all the people in the audience spoke Italian, or if there was some sort of translation available to them, because they all laughed at the right times. The opera contains some "breaking of the fourth wall", which I found interesting. Oh, speaking of "the fourth wall", most people use that phrase without really knowing what it means! People usually associate that phrase with when a character becomes self-aware, and realizes they're fictional and being observed by an audience. (When a character realizes they aren't being observed by anyone, we don't know what to call it, because we've never observed someone not being observed.) And while that technically is true, I even used it in my previous post, the fourth wall is best, and most accurately, described as the separation between characters and audiences. It can be spacial or physical, like when the president holds a conference on television. He's raised behind a podium, usually, so the fourth wall is that abstract space of characteristic that makes him different from the audience. Or if you're watching on television, the television screen is the fourth wall, because it separates the performer (Mr.O) from the audience (America, or really anyone with access to Fox News) for safety reasons, and for emphasis.

But it was intriguing, in content. I liked the story a ton, and it made it that much easier to appreciate this...


Rabbit of Seville from TravisD on Vimeo.