Orquesta Ciudad to Premiere Paisiello's Barber
- Orquesta Ciudad de Granada is staging Giovanni Paisiello’s *Il barbiere di Siviglia* for the first time, with concert performances in Granada on May 8 and Seville on May 10. - Lucas Macías conducts a cast led by Santiago Ballerini, Aitana Sanz, Darío Solari and Pietro Spagnoli in what OCG calls its first outing with Paisiello’s version. - It matters because Paisiello’s 1782 *Barber* was once the standard before Rossini’s 1816 hit pushed it to the margins.
Opera history can look fixed from a distance. One *Barber of Seville* exists in the repertoire, everybody knows the overture, and that’s basically that. But this week in Andalusia, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada is reopening the fork in the road that got buried two centuries ago. The orchestra is presenting Giovanni Paisiello’s *Il barbiere di Siviglia* for the first time in its own history — in Granada on Friday, May 8, and in Seville on Sunday, May 10. (orquestaciudadgranada.es) ### Wait — there’s another *Barber of Seville*? Yes. Rossini’s 1816 opera is the one that survived in regular circulation, but Paisiello got there first. His *Barber* premiered on September 26, 1782, at the Imperial Theatre in St. Petersburg, with a libretto by Giuseppe Petrosellini based on Beaumarchais. For decades, it was the version people knew. (todalamusica.es)did Paisiello disappear? Because Rossini didn’t just write another setting of the same story — he wrote the one that swallowed the field. OCG’s own program notes put it bluntly: the “Rossini tornado” eventually swept aside Paisiello’s comic model. The funny twist is that Rossini’s premiere in Rome in 1816 initially ran into backlash from Paisiello loyalists, who treated the older opera as almost untouchable. (orquestaciudadgranada.es) ### What exactly is OCG doing now? This is a concert version, not a fully staged production. Lucas Macías conducts the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada in two performances — May 8 at 7:30 p.m. in Granada’s Auditorio Manuel de Falla, then May 10 at 7:00 p.m. at Seville’s Teatro de la Maestranza. OCG is billing the project as a coproduction with the Maestranza. (orquestaciudadgranada. ([orquestaciudadgranada.es)The cast is strong and pretty specific. Santiago Ballerini sings Count Almaviva, Aitana Sanz is Rosina, Pablo Ruiz is Doctor Bartolo, Darío Solari is Figaro, and Pietro Spagnoli sings Don Basilio. Andrés Merino and Luis Raspaqueso round out the smaller roles. (orquestaciudadgranada.es(orquestaciudadgranada.es)ng off a curiosity for one night. These are the two performances currently being presented as the Spanish run for this project, with Granada hosting it inside OCG’s season and Seville taking it to one of the country’s major opera houses. That gives the piece more weight than a one-off archival exercise. (beckmesser.com) ### Is this just for completists? Not really. The point is less “look at this obscure artifact” and more “listen to the musical world Rossini replaced.” Paisiello’s version lets you hear the older operatic style Rossini inherited and then blew open — gentler, more elegant, less manic, but still built around the same web of disguises, letters, tricks, and romantic scheming involving Rosina, Almaviva, Bartolo, and Figaro. (todalamusica.es) ### Why now? Part of it is programming logic. Orchestras and opera houses keep looking for repertoire that feels fresh without being random, and Paisiello’s *Barber* fits that perfectly. It has a famous story, a clear historical hook, and just enough rarity to make the event feel like discovery rather than nostalgia. OCG’s own framing leans into that — “a happy discovery for curious ears.” (orquestaciudadgranada.es) ### Bottom line? This week’s news is simple, but the musical point is bigger. Granada and Seville are getting a chance to hear the *other* *Barber of Seville* — the one that came first, ruled for years, and then got written out of the mainstream by a masterpiece that arrived later. (orquestaciudadgranada.es)
