| As one of the most popular forms of entertainment in London in the early nineteenth century, Italian opera drew enthusiastic crowds to the King's Theatre and elicited much critical response from the press. This thesis investigates the reception of Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia between 1818 and 1830. Period literature reveals an overwhelming preoccupation with the attributes of foreign singers, especially their style of ornamentation, and this thesis places Il barbiere within the critical milieu of the time. |
