Il Barbiere di Siviglia: Cavatina - “Largo al factotum”

Perhaps the most famous baritone aria in all opera, “Largo al factotum” has long been a popular favourite. It did nothing to prevent the disaster that hit the first performance of Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Rome in 1816 – when it was seriously disrupted by supporters of Paisiello, composer of an earlier opera on the same subject – but if any one factor has been responsible for the phenomenal success of the opera since then it is Figaro’s entrance aria (or cavatina) in Act One. It is effective partly because it is so irresistibly tuneful but partly also because it is such a brilliant example of characterisation. Figaro is pleased with himself not only for his accomplishment as a barber and surgeon but also for his skill as a fixer – which he is about to demonstrate over the next two acts by bringing together, against all the odds, Rosina and Count Almaviva. His professional virtuosity is reflected in the virtuosity of the music with which he introduces himself, singing to himself out of sight at first (“la ran la lera”) as the orchestra anticipates the energy that is about to burst onto the stage, then telling us all about his hectically busy life. While manipulating the tempo just as he manipulates his customers, he displays both his vocal agility and at the same time his ease with the tongue-twisters of the challenging last four lines, “Pronto, prontissimo….”