The Modena-born baritone stars from May 17 in a new production of The Barber of Seville at the Staatsoper

“The Rossinian Figaro is usually portrayed as a witty and carefree character, the tireless driving force behind the opera’s events. This production of The Barber of Seville, however, explores the more melancholic nuances of the composer’s comedy, making my return to this role even more compelling”. These are the words with which baritone Mattia Olivieri describes the new staging of Gioachino Rossini’s masterpiece, in which he will star from May 17 to June 17 at the Staatsoper Hamburg. The new production – directed by Tatjana Gürbaca, with Omer Meir Wellber and Tohar Gil alternating on the podium – marks the Modena-born singer’s debut at the German opera house. The role of Figaro has become one of Olivieri’s most internationally acclaimed performances in recent years: in addition to Teatro alla Scala, he has performed it in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, and Palermo, and will now bring it for the first time to the prestigious Hamburg stage.

Recently acclaimed for his portrayal of Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor at the San Carlo Theatre in Naples and in Vienna, Mattia Olivieri owes the very beginning of his artistic career as a baritone to Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. It was in fact while attending a performance of this opera as a young student that Olivieri first became drawn to the operatic repertoire, after an initial musical path connected to pop music during his conservatory years. Following that “revelation”, he decided to devote himself to opera singing, furthering his studies in Bologna, at the Accademia Rossiniana in Pesaro, and in Valencia. In a short time, his career developed across the world’s leading opera stages, culminating in his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 2023. Recent engagements, in addition to Lucia di Lammermoor, include Don Giovanni in Vienna and Eugene Onegin (title role) at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, a role he will also debut in this summer at the Santa Fe Opera.

Info: https://www.die-hamburgische-staatsoper.de/de/programm/oper/1909-il-barbiere-di-siviglia

Photo credits: Mattia Olivieri © Michele Monasta