If you think you’ve never heard of The Barber of Seville, think again! Rossini’s toe-tapping, humdinger of a score has been used in popular culture since its premiere in 1816. If you’re anywhere close to the Four Seasons Centre until May 22, you might hear a familiar sound echoing through the building—the famous "Largo al factotum" aria, with its legendary “Figaro” refrain. Still not ringing any bells? Sit back, relax, and get ready for your pop culture whirlwind tour through Rossini’s comic masterpiece. 

This production of The Barber of Seville, a COC co-production with Opera Australia, Houston Grand Opera and Opéra National de Bordeaux, uses the signature madcap and colourful style of Els Comediants, an artist collective from Spain, whose work we’ve seen before at the COC with their 2011 La Cenerentola. This production’s use of space and scale lends a cartoon-like sensibility, with riotous bursts of colour and humour contributing to the already hilarious opera. The cartoon-inspired style is fitting, as the music of Barber was often first introduced to today’s audiences by that same medium—cartoons. Classic Warner Bros. cartoons, so often seen on Saturday mornings in childhood, featured music from The Barber of Seville in no less than nine different cartoons, a few of which we will highlight below. 

Arguably the best-known use of The Barber of Seville, the Bug Bunny short “The Rabbit of Seville” uses the famous Barber overture to score a hilarious battle for dominance between Bugs and Elmer Fudd, while also lampooning opera tropes along the way.

Those eternal frenemies and competitive companions Tom and Jerry also had their turn using "Largo al factotum" for comedy, turning it into a bit of a sing-off situation.

Bugs Bunny actually took inspiration from Rossini twice. In a lesser-known clip, Bugs runs afoul of a singer practicing his own "Largo" for a concert, and gets his revenge by becoming the maestro we all hope never to find in the pit at the Four Seasons Centre. 

Although Woody Woodpecker and Bugs Bunny had faded from popularity in the 2000s, The Barber of Seville overture provided the inspiration for another cartoon spokes-animal. Bee, of Honey Nut Cheerios fame, takes his turn as the barber in this cereal commercial set to Rossini’s score. 

“Largo al factotum” is one of the best “party arias”—technically challenging, crowd pleasing, and always impressive when pulled off. It’s a baritone’s best weapon on the competition circuit. However, even if it’s just for the men in the real world of operatic casting, a soprano can have her day in the patter spotlight too. Deanna Durbin proved this in the 1948 romantic comedy For the Love of Mary. Show this clip to a soprano in your life, and maybe someday we’ll hear a "Largo" for women—Barbara of Seville, anyone?  

These are just a few uses of Rossini’s comic masterpiece in popular culture. Music from The Barber of Seville has also appeared in episodes of Seinfeld, The Simpsons, and had cinematic cameos in Mrs. Doubtfire and Little Rascals, among others. Perhaps the most incongruously, a remix of “Largo al factotum” was prominently featured in the advertising for season five of that dubious documentary and social experiment Jersey Shore. While we can’t be certain, a part of us thinks Rossini, notorious bon vivant, would probably approve. 

Come find out for yourself why The Barber of Seville is so iconic, and experience some of the hilarity and virtuosic singing happening at the Canadian Opera Company.  

 

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To find out more about our upcoming production of The Barber of Seville, click here. 

 

To buy tickets, click here.

Photo credit: (l-r) Alek Shrader as Count Almaviva and Joshua Hopkins as Figaro in the Canadian Opera Company production of The Barber of Seville, 2015. Photo: Michael Cooper