Opera and Sevilla

Posted on July 22, 2014

Many famous operas are set in the city of Sevilla, and several specific locations from these operas are real and still present in Sevilla today. Additionally, there are many statues and monuments to the famous characters of these beloved masterpieces present in the city.

Here are some examples of great works that were partially inspired by Seville, as well as a handful of the related places you can visit in the city:

The Barber of Seville (Italian: Il barber di Siviglia)

This 1816 opera by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini is about Figaro, a barber in the city of Seville, trying to help Count Almaviva win the love of Rosina. There are disguises, mistaken identities, fights over money, romances, and more. The first video clip above is “Figaro’s Aria,” performed by Gioachino Antonio Rossini in 2005 with Teatro Real in Madrid. The second clip is from “Rabbit of Seville,” a 1950 Warner Bros. Looney Toons short featuring Bugs Bunny performing selections from The Barber of Seville, which is how I was introduced to this opera as a kid!

 

The Marriage of Figaro (Italian: Le nozze di Figaro)

This comic opera was composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. The Marriage of Figaro continues the plot of The Barber of Seville several years later. Figaro and his fiancée, Susanna, are now servants of Count Almaviva and live on his estate outside of Seville. Count Almaviva has designs on Susanna, and tries to prevent her and Figaro from marrying. More disguises, revenge plots, attempted seductions, and slapstick take place, making this a beloved work and one of the most-performed operas worldwide today. I saw a production of this by the Dallas Opera several years ago and I absolutely loved it! The above clip is the Overture and opening duet performed in 1999 by the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.

 

Carmen

Composed by Georges Bizet with a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, Carmen tells the story of Don José, a soldier seduced by the Gypsy, Carmen. In the opera, José abandons his childhood sweetheart and deserts the military, but then loses Carmen’s love to Escamillo, a bullfighter. Carmen is a worker at the Royal Tobacco Factory in Seville, which today is the main building of the University of Seville (where I studied!) The clip above is a trailer for the 2007 production of Carmen at the Royal Opera House in London.

 

Don Juan

Don Juan is a legendary character whose story has been told many times in many different ways over the years. Most stories about Don Juan concern him seducing multiple women, which is why today calling someone a “Don Juan” (common in Spanish slang) is the same as calling him a womanizer. The earliest known written version of his story was El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra (The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest), a play by Tirso de Molina published in 1630. Don Juan has also been immortalized in a Molière play, an epic poem by Byron, and the opera Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with Italian libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. The above clip is from a recent production at the Sferisterio Opera Festival.

 

There are other locations in Sevilla that are related to these operas, but these are some of the “highlights”. Many companies offer “opera tours” of Sevilla that take you to all of the locations, and there’s even an iPhone app that includes a map with location descriptions. It’s a fun aspect of the city’s history that demonstrates its cultural relevance. On one of the tours I took, our guide told us that at one point in history, in the world of opera, theatre, and literature, it was incredibly common for artists to set their stories in Sevilla. In our culture today, setting a story in New York, London, or Paris adds a dramatic, romantic feeling, and many people romanticize those places. Apparently, this is how Sevilla was for artists in the past!