The Barber of Seville at HGO

Read about the big names who appeared in the company’s eight previous productions of Rossini’s screwball comedy.

Cecilia Bartoli as Rosina and Enzo Dara as Dr. Bartolo in HGO’s 1993 production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.

1963

Conductor: Walter Herbert

Director: Ralph Herbert

Principals: Ginetta La Bianca, Enrico Di Giuseppe, John Reardon, Richard Wentworth

Trivia: HGO’s first Barber, performed in the company’s ninth season, featured Reardon as Figaro. The baritone made regular appearances on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

John Reardon as Figaro in HGO’s 1963 production of Barber.

1969

Conductor: Walter Herbert

Director: William J. Adams

Principals: Anne Elgar, Enrico Di Giuseppe, Sherrill Milnes, Andrew Foldi

Trivia: Milnes as Figaro was “the golden star of the show,” wrote the Houston Post, “but certainly not the newsiest.” That distinction went to William Guthrie, a Houston Baptist College voice instructor in the audience on opening night. When the singer playing Bartolo collapsed before curtain, Guthrie stepped in to fill the role.

Sherrill Milnes as Figaro shaves Andrew Foldi as Dr. Bartolo in HGO’s 1969 production of Barber.

1976

Conductor: Charles Mackerras

Director: Anthony Besch

Principals: Maria Ewing, Edoardo Gimenez, Hermann Prey, Donald Gramm

Trivia: The Post wrote that Ewing, who led this production as Rosina, “had as much expression in her singing as in her face, which is a lot.”

Hermann Prey as Figaro and Maria Ewing as Rosina in HGO’s 1976 production of Barber.

1983

Conductor: John DeMain

Director: Paolo Montarsolo

Principals: Maria Ewing, Francisco Araiza, Thomas Allen, Sesto Bruscantini

Trivia: The Houston Chronicle praised Allen’s “good looks, charm, and mellifluous tone” as Figaro. Legendary basso buffo Montarsolo both directed and played Basilio.

Thomas Allen as Figaro in HGO’s 1983 production of Barber.

1993

Conductor: Ion Marin

Director: Willy Decker

Principals: Cecilia Bartoli, Ernesto Palacio, Paolo Gavanelli, Enzo Dara

Trivia: Bartoli—dubbed a “phenomenon” by the Chronicle for her portrayal of Rosina—made her U.S. stage debut in this HGO production. During the music lesson scene, the mezzo interpolated the aria “Tanti affetti” from Rossini’s La donna del lago.

Cecilia Bartoli as Rosina in HGO’s 1993 production of Barber.

2004

Conductor: Patrick Summers

Director: Lindy Hume

Principals: Joyce DiDonato, Richard Croft, Earle Patriarco, John Del Carlo

Trivia: Starring DiDonato as “a sensational Rosina” (Houston Chronicle), this production updated the action to the late 1950s/early ’60s. Almaviva drove onstage in a Buick Electra convertible, and Figaro rode a Vespa.

Joyce DiDonato as Rosina in HGO’s 2004 production of Barber.

2011

Conductor: Leonardo Vordoni

Director: Joan Font

Principals: Ana María Martínez, Lawrence Brownlee, Nathan Gunn, Patrick Carfizzi

Trivia: After his successful HGO production of Rossini’s Cinderella in 2007, director Font returned to stage a cartoonish new Barber, featuring Martínez as Rosina and Brownlee as Almaviva.

Lawrence Brownlee as Count Almaviva and Ana María Martínez as Rosina in HGO’s 2011 production of Barber.

2018

Conductor: Emily Senturia

Director: Joan Font

Principals: Sofia Selowsky, David Portillo, Lucas Meachem, Peixin Chen

Trivia: This revival of Font’s staging—which HGO is mounting a third time in 2026—had to be performed in the George R. Brown Convention Center since the Wortham was flooded from Hurricane Harvey.

David Portillo as Count Almaviva in HGO’s 2018 production of Barber.

about the author

Joe Cadagin

Joe Cadagin is the Audience Education and Communications Manager at Houston Grand Opera.