A barber, a regional first and a Broadway show

By Peter Alexander Oct. 31 at 2:20 p.m.

The Central City Opera (CCO) has announced its 2025 summer season—or at least two thirds of it.

As in recent years, there will be two operas and a Broadway musical performed in the historic opera house in Central City. For 2025 the two operas will be Rossini’s enduring comic masterpiece The Barber of Seville, and a new work by Serbian-American composer Aleksandra Vrebalov, The Knock. 

The Broadway musical has not been announced, although a recent news release from CCO says, coyly, “We won’t be shy about announcing the title of the Golden-Age musical comedy after it ends its limited run on Broadway in January.” I won’t speculate, but you can fuel your imagination by looking up the shows currently on Broadway.

The French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais wrote three plays about the cagey character of Figaro, starting with The Barber of Seville. It was adopted several times as an opera, including a popular version by Giovanni Paisiello. When Rossini’s version premiered in Rome in 1816 it was booed on opening night but—thanks to the brilliant score—soon vanquished all previous versions. 

In the play and opera, Figaro cleverly outwits the elderly Dr. Bartolo, who has designs on his young ward, Rosina, and arranges her marriage to her lover, Count Almaviva. In addition to several comic ensemble scenes, the score includes Figaro’s famous entry aria “Largo al factotum” and Rosina’s virtuosic showpiece “Una voce poco fa.”

Born in Serbia, Vrebalov came to the United States to study in 1995 and became a U.S. citizen in 2005. She holds a doctorate in music from the University of Michigan. Her works have been performed by the Kronos Quartet, Glimmerglass Opera with Cincinnati Opera, the English National Ballet and the Belgrade Philharmonic, among others. 

A patriotic story of military wives awaiting news of their deployed husbands, The Knock is Verbalov’s third opera. It was commissioned by the Cincinnati Opera, but due to the COVID pandemic the stage premiere was postponed. The first performance was recorded on film with the Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra. That performance was directed by Alison Moritz, now the artistic director of Central City Opera. 

The CCO production will represent a regional premiere, following sold-out onstage performances in Cincinnati.