Set Model
1954 (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Great Britain’s leading theatre designer from the early 1930s to the mid 1950s, Oliver Messel (1904-1978) won international acclaim for his lavish, painterly and poetic designs informed by period styles. His work spans ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue. Messel’s traditional style of theatre design became unfashionable from the mid 1950s onwards, and he increasingly concentrated on painting, interior and textile design, including designing luxury homes in the Caribbean.
Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville (1816) is based on a comedy (1775) by Beaumarchais (1732-1799). Count Almaviva is in love with Rosina, Dr. Bartolo’s beautiful ward. With the aid of Figaro, a mischievous and clever barber, he seeks to release Rosina from Dr. Bartolo’s clutches. Messel designed costumes and sets for a Glyndebourne production in 1954, which despite its popularity, was only revived twice.
Act I opens onto a square in Seville overlooked by Dr. Bartolo’s house. Messel’s set model includes a paper figure of Count Almaviva serenading Rosina, who leans over her balcony window to listen. Derek Granger, in an interview with Messel for the Glyndebourne Festival Programme of 1956, highlighted the conscious artificiality of Messel’s set, in keeping with the opera’s light spirit and parody of social manners.
Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville (1816) is based on a comedy (1775) by Beaumarchais (1732-1799). Count Almaviva is in love with Rosina, Dr. Bartolo’s beautiful ward. With the aid of Figaro, a mischievous and clever barber, he seeks to release Rosina from Dr. Bartolo’s clutches. Messel designed costumes and sets for a Glyndebourne production in 1954, which despite its popularity, was only revived twice.
Act I opens onto a square in Seville overlooked by Dr. Bartolo’s house. Messel’s set model includes a paper figure of Count Almaviva serenading Rosina, who leans over her balcony window to listen. Derek Granger, in an interview with Messel for the Glyndebourne Festival Programme of 1956, highlighted the conscious artificiality of Messel’s set, in keeping with the opera’s light spirit and parody of social manners.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Wood, paint, paper |
| Brief description | Set model by Oliver Messel for Act I, scene i, of Rossini's opera Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), Glyndebourne 1954. |
| Physical description | A set model by Oliver Messel for Act II of a Glyndebourne production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, 1954. The set model is enclosed within a carved wooden box and velvet sides on the interior. A yellow curtain framed with columns. A view of a town square in Seville, with a fountain in the foreground. A large baroque style house with shuttered windows and balconies. To the left of the house, a street leading to a tall tower. On the right, more buildings. A female figure leans out of one of the windows of the house, and a man stands in the street looking up at her and gesticulating. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Design |
| Credit line | Acquired with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Art Fund and the Friends of the V&A |
| Object history | Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), an opera (1816) in two acts, was composed by Rossini with libretto by Sterbini after Beaumarchais’s comedy of the same name (1775). Oliver Messel’s production was first performed by the Glyndebourne Festival Opera at Glyndebourne on 10 June, 1954; directed by Carl Ebert, featuring Bruscantini as Figaro and Graziella Sciutti as Rosina. It was revived at the Edinburgh Festival in 1955 and at Glyndebourne in 1961. Roger Pinkham has said of this production that “Messel chose a palette which echoed the contrasted and thus dramatic coloration of Goya’s paintings.” (Pinkham, ed., 1983). Lord Snowdon, Oliver Messel's nephew, inherited Messel's theatre designs and other designs and artefacts. The designs were briefly stored in a disused chapel in Kensington Palace before being housed at the V&A from 1981 on indefinite loan. The V&A Theatre Museum purchased the Oliver Messel collection from Lord Snowdon in 2005. Historical significance: Messel worked for Glyndebourne from 1951 to 1959, when he was at the height of his popularity as a designer for the stage. His work for Glyndebourne in this period is regarded as some of his best designs. |
| Production | Reason For Production: Commission |
| Summary | Great Britain’s leading theatre designer from the early 1930s to the mid 1950s, Oliver Messel (1904-1978) won international acclaim for his lavish, painterly and poetic designs informed by period styles. His work spans ballet, drama, film, musical, opera and revue. Messel’s traditional style of theatre design became unfashionable from the mid 1950s onwards, and he increasingly concentrated on painting, interior and textile design, including designing luxury homes in the Caribbean. Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville (1816) is based on a comedy (1775) by Beaumarchais (1732-1799). Count Almaviva is in love with Rosina, Dr. Bartolo’s beautiful ward. With the aid of Figaro, a mischievous and clever barber, he seeks to release Rosina from Dr. Bartolo’s clutches. Messel designed costumes and sets for a Glyndebourne production in 1954, which despite its popularity, was only revived twice. Act I opens onto a square in Seville overlooked by Dr. Bartolo’s house. Messel’s set model includes a paper figure of Count Almaviva serenading Rosina, who leans over her balcony window to listen. Derek Granger, in an interview with Messel for the Glyndebourne Festival Programme of 1956, highlighted the conscious artificiality of Messel’s set, in keeping with the opera’s light spirit and parody of social manners. |
| Associated object | S.44-2006 (Study for) |
| Bibliographic reference | Pinkham, Roger (ed.) Oliver Messel, London, V&A, 1983
|
| Other number | ROT 8884 - TM Rotation Number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.210-2006 |
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| Record created | July 24, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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