The well-known aria announcing the barber's entrance — 'Figaro!… Eh, Figaro!' — highlights this comic romp of an opera. Based on Beaumarchais' Le Barbier de Seville, Rossini's 1816 classic began as Almaviva, or the UselessPrecaution, in an attempt to avoid confusion with a highly successful Il Barbiere di Siviglia of a half-century earlier. An opening night fiasco and persistent interruptions during the premiere by fans of the older playwere but momentary detours on the path of this masterpiece ...