top of page

In Review: Burns in Utah Opera's "Il barbiere di Siviglia"

"Perhaps the biggest laughs were earned by Matthew Burns as Doctor Bartolo, who played the role like a hapless dad in a late 1960s sitcom. He threw himself into his role’s physical comedy while still singing his baritone role with precision and gusto. In this production, he was an optometrist and Rosina was his assistant. At one point Shell decided to have them administer an eye exam to a frightened patient as they argue in recitative, and both deftly handled the complicated physical comedy, without losing a note or flourish."



"Dr. Bartolo, well-played by Matthew Burns. . . Highlights of the production were Burns’s Bartolo when he sings, mostly in falsetto, “Quando mi sei vicina.” It is truly hilarious."


bottom of page