The Barber of Seville opera at the Teatro Argentina in Rome was a disaster: the audience hissed and jeered throughout, and several on-stage accidents occurred. Furthermore, many of the audience were supporters of one of Rossini's rivals, Giovanni Paisiello, who played on mob mentality to provoke the rest of the audience to dislike the opera. Paisiello had already composed "The Barber of Seville" and took Rossini's new version to be an affront to his version. In particular, Paisiello and his followers were opposed to the use of basso buffo, which is common in comic opera. The second performance, however, was successful. The original French
Jim Barber (ventriloquist) Jim Barber (ventriloquist) Jim Barber is an American ventriloquist, comedian and singer who performs Internationally. Barber is best known for his unusual performance in which "Seville," his dummy, actually appears to be holding Barber, contrary to the more orthodox way used by his peers. One of Barber's more popular routines involves "Diva," a female dummy which appears to be operated by Seville (with Barber on the other side), with all three engaged in an operatic song from "The Barber of Seville" — part of the pun from which the name of Barber's act, "Jim Barber and Seville," is taken. Barber