Imbroglios in traditional Madrid

The authentic Madrid of times gone past vibrates delightfully in El barberillo de Lavapiés (The Little Barber of Lavapiés). The zarzuela narrates the lively experiences of the adventurous rogue Lamparilla, the “little barber”of the neighbourhood of Lavapiés and his seamstress sweetheart Paloma. During their romance, they become involved in a series of intrigues that combine their courtship with politics and the nature of a working class couple clashing with a noble aristocracy.

Imbued with a definitely urban feeling, El barberillo de Lavapiés, with music by Barbieri and libretto –in verse- of Luis Mariano de Larra is not The Barber of Seville of Rossini, but it does make a parody of the Italian masterpiece. And this is done with such intelligence: the Madrid of King Charles III becomes a comedy of manners canvas that narrates an amusing tangle of events with colourful scenes all encased in a musical score of wonderful seguidillas or the Canción de la Paloma.

With the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla in the pit, one of the most entertaining zarzuelas in the repertory comes to the Maestranza.

Zarzuela. Libretto, Luis Mariano de Larra. Premiere, Teatro de la Zarzuela (Madrid), 19 December 1874.