‘The Barber of Seville’ comedy will captivate local audiences

Both opera and “The Barber of Seville” are not as inaccessible as commonly believed, representatives of the opera’s local shows said yesterday.

Members of the cast and crew met with the press yesterday at the Macao Cultural Centre in advance of the opening night. The opera will premiere there tonight, marking the opening of the 35th Macao International Music Festival (MIMF).

When asked by the Times on how local audiences can be encouraged to attend, Lio Kuokman, chief conductor at Macao Orchestra and program director of the festival, along with Martin Lyngbo, director of the opera, emphasized that opera is not a distant or inaccessible art form.

The Macao Orchestra will play the music for the performances.

Lio encouraged local audience members who have not yet purchased tickets to watch the show. He said that contrary to public perceptions of opera, the show is family-friendly and comedic in nature.

Echoing Lio’s sentiments, Lyngbo added that the shows are accessible even for children. He highlighted the value of introducing children to opera, adding that it may provide inspiration for thoughts and ideas in children which differ from adults, and indeed, many children have liked the shows.

In support of this, he mentioned his own children, stating, “I have four children, aged between five to 17, and they all liked the show!”

He has also adapted this work into a more accessible production by cutting it short to 2.75 hours, in contrast to many other operatic works, some of which run for 3.5-hours. He has also sought to incorporate posture and gesture to convey emotions and overcome any language barriers. Surtitles were also lowered to stage level to allow audiences to see both actions on the stage and understand the lyrics. Lyngbo believes these measures will facilitate the experience throughout the entire theater to allow the audience to feel the same at more or less the same time.

This production is not a new piece of work, as Danish Lyngbo created this version of the opera more than five years ago.

The show has so far toured across Israel, Taiwan and Macau. Lio served as conductor for the shows in Taichung, Taiwan.

Five years ago, Lio had heard good feedback on the show, so he flew to Denmark and “had a good laugh from start to end. I have since then wanted to bring it to Macau,” Lio said.

As The Barber of Seville had not been staged in Macau for some time, he believed it timely to stage it this year. He also believed that the comedic vibe would be well-suited for the days after disease control restrictions.

Taiwanese Jo-Pei Weng, who plays female lead Rosina at the only afternoon show, also starred in the Taichung shows. Weng said that a partial refreshment of the cast in Macau gave her fresh inspiration for the role.

She believes that new elements will emerge in the Macau show, noting  that minor adjustments are common whenever a show arrives at a new venue. Echoing her comments, Lio highlighted that each show contributes to the maturity and development of a piece of work.