By Lindy Hume, director of The Barber of Seville
This co-production between Opera Queensland (Australia), Seattle Opera and New Zealand Opera began life in 2016 as a 200th birthday celebration of The Barber of Seville. It followed a similarly joyful collaboration between our companies on a 2014 production of Rossini’s Cinderella. Here in 2024, I’m delighted to say that since their Brisbane debuts, both productions have been well-travelled and warmly embraced by audiences in around the world and across Australasia. It is a delight to revisit our salute to Rossini’s comic genius at a time when the world is thirsty for what Barber offers in abundance: humanity, love, laughter and the possibility of a happy ending, all set to Rossini’s exhilarating music.