Giacomo Sagripanti’s debut at the Met could hardly be more spectacular: in a few days, the Abruzzo-born conductor will take the podium at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with one of the most famous works in Gioachino Rossini’s repertoire. “Conducting Il Barbiere di Siviglia in a theater like the Met is a great responsibility,” he says. “Here, there is an extraordinary tradition, and every interpretative choice must consider the acoustics, the stage space, the quality of the orchestra, and the sensitivity of the audience.” With twelve performances starting April 15, 2025, the production will feature Isabel Leonard and Aigul Akhmetshina alternating in the role of Rosina, while Lawrence Brownlee and Jack Swanson will portray Count Almaviva. Among the most anticipated novelties, Davide Luciano and Andrey Zhilikhovsky will alternate as Figaro.
Sagripanti has already conducted Il Barbiere in some of Europe’s most prestigious venues, from the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro to the Opéra in Paris, and from Vienna to Madrid. “The American audience is enthusiastic and warm, but it has a less orthodox approach than the European one,” he explains. “In Seattle, for example, I found audiences very open and reactive, less tied to tradition. At the Met, however, I expect an audience that is deeply knowledgeable, able to catch every musical and dramaturgical nuance.” But as we know, the theater always holds surprises. “Sometimes, a moment of silence full of tension comes when you least expect it, while at other times, a sudden applause can radically change the atmosphere on stage.”
Considered one of the most interesting contemporary Rossini conductors, Sagripanti maintains a special relationship with the music of the Pesaro-born composer. “Rossini was crucial for my career. I’ve had the good fortune to conduct many of his works, including lesser-known ones like Gazza ladra, Aureliano in Palmira, and Ricciardo e Zoraide. Currently, I am particularly interested in Rossini’s serious works, which represent an ideal bridge between bel canto and Verdi, delving into the psychology of the characters.” This year, he will conduct Zelmira at the Rossini Opera Festival, an opera he considers emblematic of this transition.
A masterpiece of opera buffa, Il Barbiere di Siviglia is a web of disguises, deceptions, and schemes. The characters, while adhering to stereotypes, are sketched with originality: Count Almaviva alternates between naivety and assertiveness, Rosina is an unforgettable paradigm of determination and tricks, her guardian Don Bartolo embodies the classic gruff and suspicious buffo character, while Figaro, despite his cunning, often sees his plans fail. But beyond the social satire, Sagripanti highlights another essential aspect of the opera: “More than a challenge to power and the status quo, Il Barbiere celebrates the triumph of love, making its story universal and always relevant.”
Musically, Rossini’s score reveals extreme expressive variety. “Our generation has the duty to rediscover the authenticity of Rossini’s sound, highlighting every subtlety. Elements like crescendos, timbral transparency, and harmony between voices and instruments, along with the interaction between the stage and the pit, contribute to creating a dynamic narrative flow that captures the audience’s attention until the last note.” The Rossini Renaissance started by Claudio Abbado and an entire generation of musicologists in the 1980s, with the rediscovery of the vast forgotten treasure of Rossini’s opera seria, paved the way for more scholarly and refined interpretations. Today, according to Sagripanti, this research can be explored with even greater precision.
In Il Barbiere, the balance between liveliness and rhythmic control is also crucial. Sagripanti explains how, in the second act, he chooses a slower and more sorrowful tempo for Bartolo’s reproach to Rosina, emphasizing the melancholic sound of the oboe to intensify the emotion. In contrast, in Bartolo’s cabaletta Signorina, un’altra volta, he adopts an extremely quick tempo, “almost an operatic rap” to convey the character’s agitation and obsession. Every choice, he emphasizes, must have a precise musical and dramaturgical motivation, never reducing itself to a mere spectacular effect.
According to Sagripanti, the conductor is a mediator between interpretive freedom and stylistic fidelity. In Il Barbiere, where singing offers wide artistic possibilities, establishing harmony with the orchestra becomes crucial. “My task is not to impose a rigid vision, but to build a shared path that ensures cohesion in the performance. Sometimes, unexpected insights from the performers have become an integral part of my interpretation of the opera.”
Anticipation for this production is growing. On May 31, Il Barbiere di Siviglia will be broadcast worldwide through The Met: Live in HD, while on April 19, the public will have the chance to discover the secrets of the behind-the-scenes process through the Spring Open House. “I can’t wait to start this adventure at the Met,” concludes Sagripanti. “I hope to offer the audience a fresh, brilliant, and exciting Barbiere, always respecting the great Rossinian tradition”.
