Lawrence Brownlee in Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" with Virginia Opera. Brownlee made his Metropolitan Opera debut in a new production of "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" in 2007. The role has since become one of his most recognizable and famous. He has subsequently appeared in "Il Barbiere" in Vienna, Milan, Berlin, Madrid, Dresden, Munich, Baden-Baden, Hamburg, Tokyo, New York, Washington, San Diego, Seattle, and Boston. Brownlee's career highlights include performances of "The Barber of Seville" at the Vienna State Opera, the Boston Lyric Opera and Madrid's Teatro Real. He has appeared in Rossini's "L'italiana in Algeri" and "La Cenerentola" at Milan's La
The Barber of Seville play, "Le Barbier de Séville", had a similar story: poorly received at first, only to become a favorite within a week. The opera was first performed in England on 10 March 1818 at the King's Theatre in London in Italian, soon followed on 13 October at the Covent Garden Theatre by an English version translated by John Fawcett and Daniel Terry. It was first performed in America on 3 May 1819 in English (probably the Covent Garden version) at the Park Theatre in New York. It was given in French at the Théâtre d'Orléans in New Orleans on 4 March