NEW PRODUCTION PLANNED: Rossini’s opera “The Barber of Seville” has been announced as the centerpiece of the 2023 Princeton Festival. Shown here is a dress rehearsal for Derrick Wang’s opera “Scalia/Ginsburg,” taken of the opera stage during the 2022 festival.

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) will present a new production of Gioachino Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) as the centerpiece of its Princeton Festival to be held June 9-25, 2023. Rossen Milanov, Edward T. Cone Music Director and artistic head of the Princeton Festival, will conduct the opera, which will receive a three-performance run.

“I am thrilled to continue to celebrate the Festival’s opera origins with a fresh production of Rossini’s great work in the opera buffa tradition,” said Milanov. “Il barbiere di Siviglia is perhaps the most popular of all comic operas, and will appeal to anyone who loves a good laugh and great singing.”

The four-act comic opera includes the iconic character of Figaro, a barber turned valet, who assists Count Almaviva in wooing the beautiful Rosina away from her lecherous guardian, Dr. Bartolo. The story of Figaro was originally conceived by the French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais in his eponymous Le Barbier de Séville, the first in a series of three plays chronicling the character’s escapades. The opera is considered the prequel to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), likewise inspired by Beaumarchais’ plays.

This season’s Princeton Festival will once again take place primarily on the grounds of Morven Museum & Garden. Plans are underway to install an even larger performance pavilion with upgraded seating offering optimal sight lines. Visit princetonsymphony.org/festival for more information.