Rating: 
Summary: Quantitative Evaluation
Review: Audio Merits:2/10; Video Merits:7/10; Libretto Merits:6/10; Overall Artistic Performance:8/10; Musical Merits:9/10; Cinematographic Merits:7/10; DVD Extras:6/10; Recording Total Quality:4/10. Professor's Comment: The amplified dissonant footstep and mobile decoration noises annihilate all the positives of this title. RM Associates should collect this edition and re-release the digitally filtered version.
Rating: 
Summary: The production
Review: Certainly not the classic production. I find that the clowns and use of large cloth ribbons is too much of a distraction. Also there is too much stage noise to enjoy the music. This one is not for me.
Rating:
Summary: The production
Review: Certainly not the classic production. I find that the clowns and use of large cloth ribbons is too much of a distraction. Also there is too much stage noise to enjoy the music. This one is not for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Awful staging.
Review: Don't buy this performance unless you enjoy people who have nothing to do with the story running around waving sheets. It is distracting and adds nothing. Rossini did well enough without the chutzpah of the stage director who thought he could improve on a genius. The singing is not bad.I watched my copy once and threw it out.
Rating:
Summary: This version is a fiasco
Review: Don't buy this version. Wait until some other performance is available. Lots of silly people doing nonsense (clown stuff) around the singers, distracting the audience from the performance. Loud footsteps disturbing the music. The singers seem they can not stay still for any second. The director added what he probably thought is humorous, and got as a result something worse than the Three Stooges at their worst. The only good thing to say about this version is that the singers are not bad (can not be blamed for the fiasco) and they do not sing out of tune.
Rating:
Summary: What A Nightmare!
Review: I had high hopes for this DVD, as several people had posted favorable reviews of it. Indeed, it is well sung, and the orchestra sounds great. However, this is simply the most irritating staging of an opera that I've seen in my life. There is never a moment, and I mean NEVER, when there aren't hundreds of extras flitting about like idiots. It becomes impossible to listen to the opera.One would be tempted to listen to the DVD with the picture off, but all those people running around make a great deal of noise, and their stomping frequently drowns out the music.It is an incredible display of directorial self-indulgence! Dario Fo is the director, and If I ever meet him, I'm going to slap him as hard as I can.
Rating: 
Summary: The footsteps...
Review: I just read allmost of the reviews until I could figure out why someone who calls himself a 'seasoned opera fan' could say that this was not at the very least a good production. I believe people were bothered by the sound of the footsteps. I too was bothered until I switched my surround sound from 'Hall' setting to 'Dolby' and further adjusted the sound to blend the soloists with the Orchestra. After a few minutes, I was satisfied that the sound quality was as close to being there as I had ever been in my life while in my living room. I called my kids and my wife and halfway thru the first act, I watched them applaud as if they had been there. And while none of them are pundits, the fact that they liked it as much as someone who has been going to the opera for over 30 years, speaks for itself. If you are not technologically or artistically impaired: you will love this production.
Rating:
Summary: A nightmare indeed (or a legitimate adaptation?)
Review: I totally agree with Glen Kelly and I only wish he published his review before I purchased this DVD. I found it so annoying that I couldn't bring myself to watch it to the end, despite sincere repeated efforts. It's not a question of my preferences regarding traditional directing vs. "Eurotrash" - Dario Fo's pointing the origins of this comedy from the commedia dell'arte is legitimate, but he goes about it in a very crude way that in effect massacres the characters and the plot. This opera-buffa has a plot and characters with feelings. All of this is completely flooded , rather than highlighted by the purposeless commotion on stage. It seems he is leery of exposing the audience to any aria devoid of dramatic interest, of which there are several in any opera, lest the audience be traumatized by Rossini's real focus, which is the limits and possibilities of the human voice. In order to appreciate that, all action needs to stop when a singer launches an aria, or during an ensemble. During those moments the dramatic tension or focus is transformed to a musical one. Opera, particularly with recitatives, is based on moments of focused tension interspersed with more relaxed moments that prepare for the next delight or climax. Fo displays a complete lack of sensitivity to this opera's inner musical rhythm and dramatic logic. I was so upset by this production, that I had suspected all the enthusiastic reviews were written by interested parties, until I read the May 16 review from the British Columbia, Canada reviewer, that seems genuine. I realize there are many people who can relish this set, the question is who. I believe the clue to the answer is in the last reviewer's report he enjoyed it with his 6&9 y/o kids. I doubt seasoned opera fans will tolerate this production. It may belong in the legitimate realm of "light" classical music made more accessible, e.g., what Waldos de los Rios did in the 70's, or electronic Bach on a synthesizer from the same period. A lot of people wouldn't have responded to Mozart without Waldos de los Rios' adaptation of his 40's symphony, that became a hit in the 70's, and this is not something to sneer at.
Rating:
Summary: Once again, now!
Review: I watched the Barber of Seville at the Met in NY in the early '90s and I thought it was a marvelous performance, giving justice to Rossini's intentions.
This production is far from the one I watched even if this one had the benefit of subtitles.
Too much movement onstage as one other reviewer put it. Very distracting, but I guess the director simply did not want to lose any of your attention. Talk about "undivided"! I took me forever to finish watching it, pausing each time to relieve myself of the distractions. The cast was great though, especially the Count.
Rating: 
Summary: The Comic Spirit of Rossini
Review: I wouldn't say this production of "the Barber" was perfect, but I give 5 stars anyway because it was SO MUCH FUN! I've seen a convention production of "the Barber" live which was very well-sung and well-staged-- but the fact is, my attention always wavered after the second or third da capo of each verse or coloratura.... So even with the vibrant and often stunning vocal performances from Larmore, Croft, Malis and the rest of the cast (right down to Bertha the maid), what really sealed the COMIC SPIRIT of Rossini in this productions is the "frivolous" direction by Dario Fo. Count Almaviva is no longer stuck under Rosina's balcony when serenading Rosina, Rosina and Figaro are really "playing around" with each other in their duets, and everyone is just having fun with the opera. Yes, watching this production finally made me appreciate Rossini's genius in creating the consistently over-the-top comedy in "the Barber". So THREE CHEERS to Dario Fo for coming up with the imaginative mimes to supplement Rossini' wonderful music! In particular, I thought the "subtitling" of the arias was a wonderful tip of the hat to the karaoke culture of today. Of course, I must admit that unlike some opera-lovers, I DON'T have a problem with "stylised" as opposed to realistic staging of operas. Instead getting annoyed with an unusual way of staging an opera, I would try to see the "point" in such a staging. SO SIT BACK AND RELAX! The way to enjoy this production is to try to catch all the jokes and humour in the staging!
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