Young Audience Guide

Is this your first opera? Here is what you need to know!

The opera will be sung in Italian. If you look up from the stage, you will see the English translation so you will know what the singers are saying.

The opera has four parts.

1. The Overture—an introduction to the music played by the orchestra.

2. Act One—the first half of the story.

3. Intermission—a chance to stand up, stretch your legs, and have a peek at the orchestra.

4. Act Two—the second half of the story. At the very end the entire cast will come onstage and take a big bow.

Before the opera begins A synopsis is a short version of the story. It’s a good idea to read the synopsis before the opera begins because it makes it easier to follow the story onstage.

Act One Young Count Almaviva falls in love with Rosina. He enlists the help of the barber, Figaro, to help him free her from the clutches of her mean guardian Dr. Bartolo. Almaviva wants Rosina to love him for himself and not his money, he pretends to be a penniless student. Rosina sends Almaviva a love letter. Unfortunately, Dr. Bartolo wants to marry Rosina too so he locks her in the house.

Act Two Almaviva disguises himself again as a music teacher so Figaro can sneak him into the house without Dr. Bartolo knowing. Almaviva and Rosina are able to spend some time together. Figaro arrives to shave Dr. Bartolo. He also does everything he can to help Rosina and Almaviva be together. He gets the key to Rosina’s room and the couple try to escape. In the end, Dr. Bartolo is forced to officially witness the marriage of Almaviva and Rosina.

During intermission –Who’s who?? There are four main characters in the opera. Connect their names to their character description. Be careful though—one character has a disguise or two.

Dr. Bartolo

Almaviva

Rosina

Figaro

A very smart man with a curly mustache and stripy pants. He has a low voice.

A poor student with very little money.

An older man with a very low voice. He lives in a grand house and isn’t very kind. A young woman wearing a flowery dress. Her voice is quite high. She is a mezzo-soprano. A dashing young Count. He is a tenor. His voice is high and sounds sweet.

After the opera Phew! There was a lot going on in the story! Can you put these events in the correct order?* A. The police arrive

B. Dr. Bartolo tricks Rosina into thinking Almaviva has deceived her

C. Almaviva pretends to be drunk

D. Rosina has a music lesson

E. Dr. Bartolo hides the ladder

F. Figaro sings a song about himself

On the way home What did you think about the opera? Here are some questions you can talk about on your way home. How would you describe the costumes and sets to someone who has not seen the opera? When did you laugh out loud? What was the funniest part? Who is your favourite character? Why?

VANCOUVER OPERA | #BarberVO ANSWERS: *1 F, 2 C, 3 A, 4 D, 5 E, 6 E