Sydney – “Il Signor Bruschino”, third episode of the “Viva Rossini” series

The “Viva Rossini!” series is now at its third edition. It is fruit of the cooperation between the Italian Cultural Institute in Sydney and the Rossini Opera Festival of Pesaro, which the capital of the Marche Region will host from 8 to 20 August this year. Since 1980, the Rossini Opera Festival has been increasingly successful in contributing to the promotion of the Italian composer’s works, and especially of his lesser known works, also at international level. This is the case of “Il Signor Bruschino”, which is scheduled to be shown at the Italian Cultural Institute next 15 July. The screening will be presented by David Schwartz, former countertenor and a graduate in Music Composition. At present Mr Schwartz teaches at Sydney’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) music theatre, is a cabaret critic for Cabaret Hotline Online and surtitle writer for Opera Australia. “Il Signor Bruschino” is a one act operatic farce by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa drawn from the comedy “Le fils par hasard” (1808) by Alissan de Chazet and Maurice Ourry. The opera is part of the five farces that Rossini wrote for the Teatro San Moisè of Venezia, making its debut on 27 January 1813: it was a total flop. It is a classical comedy of errors, with mistaken identities, family rows, fights over maidens and a final clarification heralding the inevitable happy end.