El barberillo de Lavapiés
Music: Francisco Asenjo Barbieri
Libretto: Luis Mariano de Larra

(Theater Basel, Basle, Switzerland, 27 September 2025)

reviewed by Pierre-René Serna

The German stage director Christof Loy has discovered a passion for zarzuela. He is a talented director who has been responsible for numerous opera productions; and now in addition, he has founded Los Paladines, a zarzuela company aimed at promoting Spanish music theatre and projecting it internationally. The company’s first production is Francisco Barbieri’s emblematic zarzuela El barberillo de Lavapiés, which made its triumphant appearance with the Basle Opera, scoring a palpable hit for its zarzuela model with the Swiss public. Meanwhile, the director is already booked for two other Spanish-language productions – in January he directs Benamor at Theater an der Wien in Vienna, and in June El gato Montés at Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela.

Here at the Theater Basel, Christof Loy lives up to his great reputation. As usual, he opts for a contemporary reading: the costumes (designed by Robby Duiveman) are contemporary, except for the cast of Walloon soldiers of the royal guard, who – since the Netherlands was Spanish at the time – are dressed in eighteenth-century costumes with white wigs. Manuel La Casta’s set is in the same vein, white and bare, with some tree trunks, which hardly evoke the plot’s picture of Madrid. But the performance and gestures of the participants, aided by the dramaturgy of Élise Boch, emulate as closely as possible their actions, both in their spoken dialogues – very little reduced, backed by the strummings of a guitarist – and in their interventions at the heart of a vibrant crowd, accompanied by dancers who are also Spanish (choreography by Javier Pérez). It’s immediately eloquent! … and this despite the surtitles being only in German and English. The spoken dialogue inherent to zarzuela flow swiftly.

The vocal soloists – all Spanish – are almost ideal, both for their embodiment of the characters, rivalling each other in eloquent slickness, and for their sung projection. In the title role of the ‘little barber’ Lamparilla, baritone David Oller delivers a firm, passionate vocal line befitting his character as a rogue hero. His partner Paloma finds in Carmen Artaza a proud mezzo of sensual vocal lyricism. The other couple, the Marquise and the Marquis, fall to the soprano Cristina Toledo, with her clear timbre, and the confident tenor Santiago Sánchez. Excellent, as well as the supporting roles. Once again, the vocal virtues of the current crop of Spanish singers are confirmed.

The Basel Theatre’s Chorus acts with impetus, and with excellent Spanish elocution (thanks to good preparatory work from Michael Clark). The Basel Symphony Orchestra responds flawlessly to the fiery, rigorous baton of José Miguel Pérez-Sierra (on leave from his duties as music director of Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela), despite some initial uncertainty. And the Basel audience showed well-deserved enthusiasm for the production, with endless applause after the arias and a standing ovation at the end. Glory to Christof Loy!

© Pierre-René Serna 2025

Cast: David Oller (Lamparilla), Carmen Artaza (Paloma), Cristina Toledo (La Marquesita), Santiago Sánchez (Don Luis de Haro). Alejandro Baliñas Vieites (Don Juan de Peralta), Joselu López (Don Pedro de Monforte), Marcelino Echeverría (Lope/Gitarrist), Chorus of Theater Basel, Sinfonieorchester Basel, c. José Miguel Pérez-Sierra. d. Christof Loy, choreo. Javier Pérez, des. Manuel La Casta, cost. Robby Duiveman, light. Valerio Tiberi.

en español
Francisco Barbieri
El barberillo de Lavapiés
homepage - zarzuela.net

2/X/2025