Patrick Carfizzi, currently appearing as Dr. Bartolo in The Barber of Seville, is in great demand as an opera singer. At Houston Grand Opera alone, hes sung Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro (2011), Swallow in Peter Grimes (2010), Papageno in The Magic Flute (2008), Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola (2007), The Loudspeaker in Der Kaiser von Atlantis (2006) and Paolo Albiani in Simon Boccanegra (2006).
There were some wobbles in his career early on, like the time he threw a letter asking him to audition at Yale in the trash. (Thankfully, his mother scooped it out, and he went on to study there.) Then there was the time he auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera New Artist program, but was told he wasnt accepted. Three weeks later, the phone rang, and he was offered his Met debut as Count Ceprano in Rigoletto.
Today hes performing alongside Nathan Gunn (Figaro) and Ana María Martínez (Rosina) in the Houston Grand Operas production of The Barber of Seville.
The appeal of Barber is not only that its a piece whose music is well known, its also its story. It definitely has characters that people can see both sides of themselves in, says Carfizzi. And while hes done this opera before, he says, its fresh every time. 2 p.m. October 21. Through November 6. Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas. For a full schedule, call 713‑228‑6737 or visit www.houstongrandopera.org. $38 to $342.
Fri., Oct. 21; Sun., Oct. 23; Sat., Oct. 29; Fri., Nov. 4; Sun., Nov. 6, 2011
This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2011.
