Portland Opera's Barber of Seville racks up the laughs

Aleksandra Romano as Rosina, John Moore as Figaro, Adam Lau as Don Basilio, Eduardo Chama as Doctor Bartolo, Jack Swanson as Count Almaviva, , and Antonia Tamer as Berta in Portland Opera's 2019 production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville. Photo by Cory Weaver/Portland Opera.

Portland’s Opera’s performance of The Barber of Seville was pure comic fun with an exceptional cast, led by John Moore as the ebullient and resourceful Figaro, raking in the laughs from all corners of Keller Auditorium on closing night, June 15th. Director Christopher Mattaliano really has this Rossini number dialed in, because the singers used a compendium of well-timed gestures, winks, and nods in a totally fluid way that perfectly conveyed the humor of the story.

The production, a revival of the one used by the company last time in 2010, featured staging from Minnesota Opera and costumes from Washington National Opera. While some of the scenery looked a little tired, the colorful, mostly modern garb, enhanced the comedy.

John Moore as Figaro, Aleksandra Romano as Rosina, and Jack Swanson as Count Almaviva in Portland Opera's 2019 production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville. Photo by Cory Weaver/Portland Opera.

Entering from an aisle in the midst of the audience, Moore’s energetic Figaro had moxie and charisma to spare, bringing down the house with the famous “Largo al factotum.” Jack Swanson’s lyric tenor graced every note given to the role of Count Almaviva, and his annoying nasal tone as the music teacher generated buckets of chuckles. Aleksandra Romano created a charming yet foxy and absolutely compelling Rosina, who stayed one step ahead of the men. Among Romano’s many highlights was a moment when her character fainted yet kept singing!

Eduardo Chama had a field day as the conniving but bungling Dr. Bartolo. Adam Lau was terrifically funny as the Don Basilio, and his animated singing of “La calunnia,” a lesson in dirty tricks, caused a riot of laughter. Antonia Tamer, shone as Berta and made her one big aria about the plight of being an old maid a memorable highlight of the evening.

Eduardo Chama as Doctor Bartolo and Aleksandra Romano as Rosina in Portland Opera's 2019 production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville. Photo by Cory Weaver/Portland Opera

The ensemble numbers were splendid, especially the sextet at the end of the first act in which main character are fighting each other in a chaos of thoughts and emotion. The chorus sang with gusto and hammed it up as an inept police force.

George Manahan conducted the orchestra expertly and doubled on the harpsichord. Here and there he played riffs from Bach’s Toccata and Fugue and Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, that added a little extra amusement for opera buffs.

One newish wrinkle in this production was an implication that Dr. Bartolo had a secret attraction to men. This was instigated through a snippet of flirtatious behavior by Figaro and capped off at the very end of the opera when Figaro planted a kiss on Dr. Bartolo, who embarrassingly enjoyed it. The seeming innocence of it all did add to the comic lightheartedness of story and accepted with chuckles by the audience.