Il Barbiere di Siviglia (1816) is one of the greatest of all comic operas. Based on an excellent play by Beaumarchais, The Barber of Seville delights audiences with its keenly sketched characters, melodic elegance, rhythmic exhilaration, superb ensemble writing and original en delightful orchestration. . In the aria La calunnia e'un venticello Don Basilio, Rosina's musicteacher, describes how a calumny can progress from a quiet buzz of speculation to an all-destroying cannon-blow. He hopes to harm Count Almaviva by spreading malicious rumours.
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