200th Birthday ‘Barber’

In honor of what would have been Rossini’s 200th birthday last year, the Ventura Symphony will be serving up the concert version of the composer’s ever-popular comic opera, “The Barber of Seville,” Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Oxnard Civic Auditorium.

The symphony’s fifth concert of the season, and the third led by its new conductor, Boris Brott, will be given over to the Rossini classic.

Written in 1816, when Rossini was 23, the opera followed composer Giovanni Paisiello’s then-popular 1782 operatic treatment of the play by Beaumarchais. After an ill-fated premiere, Rossini’s version was soon destined for popularity in perpetuity.

In Oxnard, the featured singers will include soprano Kerry Walsh as Rosina, tenor George DeMott-Bovenzi--now studying under UCSB’s Elizabeth Mannion--Venturan mezzo-soprano Linda Foster, and New Yorker Mark Pedrotti.

Stage direction will be by Ventura County resident Geraldine Decker, an accomplished opera singer who was recently heard in the original Jeff Kaiser opera “Rooster Brings Heresy.” Dominic Parisi designed the stage set, and Camarillo resident Eugene Ware designed the costumes.

For information, call 643-8646.