The finale of The Barber of Seville!
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The finale of The Barber of Seville! Not the famous one, the other one!
In this video you'll hear me produce an F2 twice (2x each by Doc Bart and Basilio). My F2 is still too quiet to use unamplified, but doing that silly meatball song actually was good practice for making it solid enough to sound good when volume-boosted.
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The finale of The Barber of Seville! Not the famous one, the other one!
In this video you'll hear me produce an F2 twice (2x each by Doc Bart and Basilio). My F2 is still too quiet to use unamplified, but doing that silly meatball song actually was good practice for making it solid enough to sound good when volume-boosted.
the recurring phrase "the useless precaution" seems weird and forced in Rossini's Barber but in Paisiello's it's part of the dark satire underpinning the whole thing. In Rossini's the Count's victory comes from Figaro intercepting the notary before Basilio, then the Count getting Basilio to cooperate at gunpoint. In Paisiello's, the Count bribed Basilio and the Notary ahead of time. He was always destined to win because he's rich, everyone else only had the illusion of control of the outcome
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the recurring phrase "the useless precaution" seems weird and forced in Rossini's Barber but in Paisiello's it's part of the dark satire underpinning the whole thing. In Rossini's the Count's victory comes from Figaro intercepting the notary before Basilio, then the Count getting Basilio to cooperate at gunpoint. In Paisiello's, the Count bribed Basilio and the Notary ahead of time. He was always destined to win because he's rich, everyone else only had the illusion of control of the outcome
So at the end of Paisiello's Barber (and the original play) you see the Count, who has been a massive prick this whole time, smugly rubbing it in Bartolo's face that he had control of the entire legal and financial situation from the jump (the mayor of Seville is in his pocket, he bought Basilio's compliance). Figaro's left nonplussed; he wasn't necessary, just dragged into all this as insurance. on the surface it's treated like a happy ending but the subtext is "ha ha but this sucks actually"
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So at the end of Paisiello's Barber (and the original play) you see the Count, who has been a massive prick this whole time, smugly rubbing it in Bartolo's face that he had control of the entire legal and financial situation from the jump (the mayor of Seville is in his pocket, he bought Basilio's compliance). Figaro's left nonplussed; he wasn't necessary, just dragged into all this as insurance. on the surface it's treated like a happy ending but the subtext is "ha ha but this sucks actually"
Rossini's and Sterbini completely invert this in their version: Figaro is the irreplaceable MVP without whom the sweet timid Count would still be helplessly pacing around under the balcony. And the ending of Rossini and Sterbini's Barber is completely unambiguously happy. The theme of their Barber isn't "ha ha the system is fucking rigged" it's "sometimes you gotta put on a buncha wacky disguises to find out who you really are"
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Rossini's and Sterbini completely invert this in their version: Figaro is the irreplaceable MVP without whom the sweet timid Count would still be helplessly pacing around under the balcony. And the ending of Rossini and Sterbini's Barber is completely unambiguously happy. The theme of their Barber isn't "ha ha the system is fucking rigged" it's "sometimes you gotta put on a buncha wacky disguises to find out who you really are"
It's honestly such a bummer that Paisiello's Barber of Seville has fallen into obscurity and nobody reads the original play, because Paisiello's Barber and Mozart's Nozze together make a super thematically coherent two part exploration of the consequences of class stratification and unchecked privilege by first showing us a best case scenario with Figaro's complicity in Barber and then showing us in Nozze how Figaro's earlier complicity bought him no advantages in a worst case scenario
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It's honestly such a bummer that Paisiello's Barber of Seville has fallen into obscurity and nobody reads the original play, because Paisiello's Barber and Mozart's Nozze together make a super thematically coherent two part exploration of the consequences of class stratification and unchecked privilege by first showing us a best case scenario with Figaro's complicity in Barber and then showing us in Nozze how Figaro's earlier complicity bought him no advantages in a worst case scenario
Now I twitch when I read people say things like "the end of [Rossini's] Barber is so bittersweet since we all know what's going to happen" it seems suuuuper obvious that Rossini and Sterbini's Barber is a standalone story. It has nothing at all to do thematically with Nozze. Yes I did do my Nozze as a sequel to Rossini and Sterbini's Barber but I pulled Nozze's themes inside out to correspond to how Sterbini pulled Barber's inside out, which is something no professional stage production would do
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Now I twitch when I read people say things like "the end of [Rossini's] Barber is so bittersweet since we all know what's going to happen" it seems suuuuper obvious that Rossini and Sterbini's Barber is a standalone story. It has nothing at all to do thematically with Nozze. Yes I did do my Nozze as a sequel to Rossini and Sterbini's Barber but I pulled Nozze's themes inside out to correspond to how Sterbini pulled Barber's inside out, which is something no professional stage production would do
(specifically, in my Nozze the Count has been miserable his whole life except for some short period after the events of Barber, and his actions in the present day of the story are his destructive thrashings as he drowns in his own despair. How it's supposed to go is that in Nozze the Count has been happy all his life, then experiences not being able to get what he wants for the first time and it is so alien to him he is completely unable to handle it)
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(specifically, in my Nozze the Count has been miserable his whole life except for some short period after the events of Barber, and his actions in the present day of the story are his destructive thrashings as he drowns in his own despair. How it's supposed to go is that in Nozze the Count has been happy all his life, then experiences not being able to get what he wants for the first time and it is so alien to him he is completely unable to handle it)
A major inversion in my Nozze to correspond to Sterbini's Barber libretto is that the Count and Figaro used to be besties so the Count is majorly betraying Figaro bc he's so wrapped up in his own misery he's stopped giving a fuck about his loved ones. How it's supposed to go is the Count doesn't even register that he's fucking w/ someone a normal person would feel gratitude towards bc Figaro is not a real person with feelings to him. it is not betrayal but the logical result of dehumanization
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A major inversion in my Nozze to correspond to Sterbini's Barber libretto is that the Count and Figaro used to be besties so the Count is majorly betraying Figaro bc he's so wrapped up in his own misery he's stopped giving a fuck about his loved ones. How it's supposed to go is the Count doesn't even register that he's fucking w/ someone a normal person would feel gratitude towards bc Figaro is not a real person with feelings to him. it is not betrayal but the logical result of dehumanization
it really is a trip to see how in Paisiello's Barber the Count is constantly such an asshole to Figaro for no reason when in Rossini's Barber the Count is such a dweeb Figaro pushes him around instead
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it really is a trip to see how in Paisiello's Barber the Count is constantly such an asshole to Figaro for no reason when in Rossini's Barber the Count is such a dweeb Figaro pushes him around instead
LMAO Kallen Esperian commented on the video on TikTok "HORRIBLE" words can't describe how fucking hilarious it is that somehow she has made herself my nemesis
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LMAO Kallen Esperian commented on the video on TikTok "HORRIBLE" words can't describe how fucking hilarious it is that somehow she has made herself my nemesis
since she's a boomer you know that if she was on a PC she held down shift for the whole thing. And if she was on her phone, tapped shift individually for each letter. legendary operatic soprano Kallen Esperian watches my content regularly and gets mad about it. this is amazing
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since she's a boomer you know that if she was on a PC she held down shift for the whole thing. And if she was on her phone, tapped shift individually for each letter. legendary operatic soprano Kallen Esperian watches my content regularly and gets mad about it. this is amazing
Imagine Serena Williams going to the park and screaming "HORRIBLE" to some random kid playing tennis
Wait no, imagine Serena Williams going to the park regularly to scream "HORRIBLE" at the same random kid playing tennis
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Imagine Serena Williams going to the park and screaming "HORRIBLE" to some random kid playing tennis
Wait no, imagine Serena Williams going to the park regularly to scream "HORRIBLE" at the same random kid playing tennis
if this was some rando I would be kinda irritated, like jeez, sorry my silly opera videos don't meet your standards for free internet entertainment. the fact that it's a famous opera singer insulting me elevates the situation to high comedy. there is no witty comeback I could make that would make her look worse than she's already making herself look
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if this was some rando I would be kinda irritated, like jeez, sorry my silly opera videos don't meet your standards for free internet entertainment. the fact that it's a famous opera singer insulting me elevates the situation to high comedy. there is no witty comeback I could make that would make her look worse than she's already making herself look
I have planned my revenge. there is an incident in 2000 that did effectively end her status as an A-lister, she was fired from a show at a major opera house for failing to attend rehearsals. I'll sing something from that opera. Nobody sane would make the connection but she'll know I'm alluding to the incident that derailed her career. She will probably lose her shit lmao
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undefined oblomov@sociale.network shared this topic
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I have planned my revenge. there is an incident in 2000 that did effectively end her status as an A-lister, she was fired from a show at a major opera house for failing to attend rehearsals. I'll sing something from that opera. Nobody sane would make the connection but she'll know I'm alluding to the incident that derailed her career. She will probably lose her shit lmao
oops I got it confused, she was called in when Katia Ricciarelli was fired. however, singing something from that opera will still probably annoy the shit out of Esperian since nobody can fire me
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oops I got it confused, she was called in when Katia Ricciarelli was fired. however, singing something from that opera will still probably annoy the shit out of Esperian since nobody can fire me
Esperian is notable for being Pavarotti's favorite soprano and favorite co-star and reading interviews with her she talks about him like he was Jesus so it would also annoy the piss out of her if I did any of his more notable rep. (Hm might be time to give Parigi o cara another go.....)
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Esperian is notable for being Pavarotti's favorite soprano and favorite co-star and reading interviews with her she talks about him like he was Jesus so it would also annoy the piss out of her if I did any of his more notable rep. (Hm might be time to give Parigi o cara another go.....)
oh Lord. I've got it - the intersection of both revenge ideas. She mentioned in an interview that when Pavarotti died she listened to his aria from Luisa Miller over and over. this song means everything to her. time to give it the ole silly hat treatment...
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oh Lord. I've got it - the intersection of both revenge ideas. She mentioned in an interview that when Pavarotti died she listened to his aria from Luisa Miller over and over. this song means everything to her. time to give it the ole silly hat treatment...
oh she's gonna be so mad lmao
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oh she's gonna be so mad lmao
did not have "deliberately antagonizing Pavarotti's favorite little meow meow" on my bingo card for 2025 but here we are

