Jonathan Miller’s The Barber of Seville Celebrates 150 Performances

Tonight (18 October) Jonathan Miller’s production of The Barber of Seville will be performed for the 150^th time. Premiered on the 17 November 1987, the production celebrates its thirtieth anniversary and thirteenth revival this year. Over the years it has become ‘a national institution’ (The Daily Telegraph) with generations of opera-goers enjoying Miller’s deft handling of this great operatic farce.

For this anniversary production the original Figaro from the 1987 run, ENO favourite Alan Opie, made his role debut as Figaro’s antagonist, Dr Bartolo. A veteran especially of Miller productions at ENO, he has twice sung the title role in Miller’s Rigoletto, in 2003 and 2006.

Over the last four decades Jonathan Miller’s much-loved productions have been at the heart of ENO’s work. From his insightful The Marriage of Figaro in 1978 to his charming and witty The Elixir of Love in 2010, Jonathan has provided the company with fifteen productions, many of them now staples of our repertoire. Throughout these 40 years audiences at the London Coliseum have been thrilled and delighted, moved and entertained by more than 1,000 performances of Jonathan’s work.