Prom 14: Glyndebourne - Rossini's The Barber of Seville

Live from BBC Proms: Rossini's Barber of Seville, with Glyndebourne Festival Opera, conducted by Enrique Mazzola and starring Danielle de Niese as Rosina.

Live from the Royal Albert Hall, London
Presented by Martin Handley

Rossini: The Barber of Seville - Act 1

8.35pm: INTERVAL
Proms Extra: The Politics of Shaving
New Generation Thinker Alun Withey and historian Kathryn Hughes contemplate the role and politics of hair styling in 18th- and 19th-century Europe with presenter Dr Shahidha Bari.

8.55pm: The Barber of Seville - Act 2

Rosina ..... Danielle de Niese (soprano)
Dr Bartolo ..... Alessandro Corbelli (baritone)
Count Almaviva .....Taylor Stayton (tenor)
Figaro ..... Björn Bürger (baritone)
Berta ..... Janis Kelly (soprano)
Fiorello ..... Huw Montague Rendall (baritone)
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Enrique Mazzola, conductor

Glyndebourne makes its annual visit to the Proms, bringing the ultimate comic opera. Rossini wrote The Barber of Seville 200 years ago, reportedly in a period of just three weeks, his head spinning with the joy and wit he discovered in the story of the wily hairdresser Figaro's amorous antics. The result is an opera full of expectant fun but also grace and beauty. Leading soprano Danielle de Niese stars as the young ward Rosina, eager to escape the clutches of the elderly Count Almaviva in a highlight of this summer's Proms Rossini focus.

Proms Extra: The Politics of Shaving
Historian and biographer Kathryn Hughes joins New Generation Thinker Alun Withey from The University of Exeter to look at the role and politics of hair styling in 18th and 19th century Europe. The discussion, recorded earlier this evening with an audience at the Imperial College Union, is hosted by Dr Shahidha Bari from Queen Mary University, London.

New Generation Thinkers is a scheme run by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council to find academics interested in turning their research into radio.

Producer: Jacqueline Smith.