How to Listen to and Understand Opera Season 1 Episode 17 The Bel Canto Style and Rossini's The Barber of Seville, I

Bel canto operas are based on comic, predictable plots and one-dimensional characters to indulge the contemporary Italian taste for pure entertainment. Our frame of reference is the landmark bel canto opera, The Barber of Seville, by the most important Italian composer of bel canto operas, Gioacchino Rossini.