The Canadian Opera Company’s ‘Barber of Seville’ revels in Rossini's buffoonery, then adds more

It overflows with a potpourri of zany personalities, including its eponymous character Figaro, Seville’s barber-turned matchmaker, town gossip, chief schemer and general handyman.

Its plot is a madcap story filled with deception and disguises — about a charming nobleman who enlists Figaro’s help so he can win over Rosina, a young woman kept under close watch by her (much older) guardian, Doctor Bartolo, who also intends to marry her. 

And then there’s Rossini’s score along with Cesare Sterbini’s brilliant, tongue-twisting lyrics, like those from Figaro’s knockout patter song “Largo al Factotum.” (Try saying “Ah, bravo Figaro! Bravo, bravissimo!” 10 times fast.)

So, what happens when you take such irresistibly silly material and overlay it with a production that injects even more buffoonery into it? 

Joan Font puts that question to the test in his deliriously over-the-top staging, now being remounted by the Canadian Opera Company (COC) for the first time in six years. 

The Spanish director, who helped establish the Barcelona-based theatre troupe Els Comediants, draws heavily from his country’s rich tradition of street theatre. Joan Guillén’s vibrant costumes look as if they were pulled right out of a graphic novel, while his cubic (and surprisingly versatile) sets resemble a three-dimensional Pablo Picasso painting. 

Font’s modus operandi seems to be that more silliness is always better, piling copious visual gags on top of the material. Characters saunter around the stage like larger-than-life clowns. Others swing from chandeliers. There’s also a whole shtick that looks borrowed from “The Phantom of the Opera,” with Dave Monaco’s Count Almaviva standing atop a piano and pretending to row his lover, Rosina, away with a paddle. 

If all these gags feel like too much, as if Font is presenting a parody of “The Barber of Seville” rather than the opera itself, know that I felt the same way when I watched other iterations of this production, which has become a mainstay in the COC’s repertoire over the past decade. 

But something clicks in this remount in a way that has not before. Much of that is thanks to this terrific cast, who not only completely buy into the sheer absurdity of Font’s production, but also manage to sell it convincingly to the audience.

Baritone Luke Sutliff, marking his COC debut, is an ideal Figaro. Even if he occasionally lacks clear diction when singing in Italian, he possesses a muscular yet bright voice, with gleaming open vowels. He’s also one of the most expressive actors I’ve seen in the role, frolicking across the stage in “Largo al Factotum” and waving his arms in the air, as if he were a toreador showing off his bag of tricks. 

Monaco (sharing the part of the lovesick Almaviva with Pietro Adaini, who performs from Feb. 17 to 21) took more time to settle into the role on opening night, straining to be heard over the orchestra in his first aria, “Ecco, ridente in cielo.” He’s somewhat weaker toward the ends of his range, as well as in the transition between his chest and head voices. But Monaco more than found his form by the second half, his voice blending gorgeously with those of the other performers in the second act’s various duets and trios. 

Meanwhile, Renato Girolami plays Bartolo like a bumbling pantomime villain, deliciously diabolical and with a fulsome baritone sound to match. 

But the production’s strongest performance belongs to Canadian mezzo-soprano Deepa Johnny as Rosina. She makes the tricky aria “Una voce poco fa” sound easy, her voice shimmering as she traverses the song’s coloratura runs and melodic leaps.

This revival’s weakest performance, in fact, is not on stage but in the pit. Anyone who saw the COC’s last revival of “Barber” will surely remember the orchestra’s astounding performance, including maestra Speranza Scappucci’s heart-pounding, guns-blazing rendition of the overture. 

This time around, the orchestra sounds surprisingly more muted under the direction of Daniela Candillari. The overture, while technically proficient, lacked sufficient spark and dynamic contrast. Later, in the second act quintet “Don Basilio! – Cosa veggo!,” the orchestra was significantly out of tempo with the performers. 

In another production of “Barber,” maybe these musical faults would be enough to detract for the experience. But not so in Font’s “Barber.” He offers such a visual feast on stage, delivered by a cast with total conviction, that it’s just enough for us to overlook any missteps in this revival.