27 May-7 June 2003. Rossinis Il Barbiere di Siviglia goes on stage in a new production that sees Gianluigi Gelmetti as both conductor and director. Gelmetti conducted this opera in Rome a few years ago, when the direction by Hugo De Ana caused much consternation. It may be for this reason that this time around Gelmetti has also taken on the direction. The cast comprises both young and more experienced singers. The experts include Raul Gimenez as Almaviva, whose long career has recently included the challenging part of Argirio in Rossinis Tancredi in Piacenza; Laura Polverelli, who has previously sung Rosina in Milan and Bologna; Natale De Caroli, who the Roman public saw as Leporello in Don Giovanni last June; and Bruno Pratic, who has been a fixture at the Pesaro Festival in recent years and who is a specialist in comic bass parts such as that of Don Bartolo, which he plays here. The role of Figaro goes to the young singer Massimiliano Gagliardo, who is said to have good stage presence but whose voice is still immature.