The overture to Gioachino Rossini's Il Barbiere Di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) and the baritone aria "Largo al factotum" are two of the most popular pieces of music in all opera, but there's a lot more to the score that's well worth hearing. If you've never enjoyed Barber in toto, now's the perfect time to do so; the Metropolitan Opera has revived it in a delightful production directed by Bartlett Sher, whose credits include the beautiful Lincoln Center Theater production of The Light in the Piazza and the recent Broadway revival of Awake and Sing!

To start with, Barbiere boasts a dream cast. In the role of Almaviva, Juan Diego Flórez confirms his status as a superstar Rossini t[...]