This is How We Wanna See Il Barbiere: Jennifer Rivera Spices Up Siviglia

(Photo courtesy Rob-Harris Productions)

o hai who's that secksay girl with the razor? Once in a while an opera promotional campaign comes along that just clicks...and leaves you wondering why no one had thought of it before -- nay, why you hadn't yourself. We're sorta getting that vibe from the playful new ads created for Opera Tampa's upcoming Barbiere di Siviglia.

Modeled after that famous 1993 Vanity Fair cover, shot by late/great Herb Ritts, our two young singers pose in homage to the gender-bending vignette of K.D. Lang getting a shave by Cindy Crawford.

In the photo above, American mezzo Jennifer Rivera as Rosina prepares to groom American tenor Greg Schmidt as Count Almaviva, publicizing the December 5th and 7th productions of Barbiere for Opera Tampa. La Rivera explains more on her blog, "Trying to remain opera-tional" (you can also go there for high-res images):

"Here in Tampa, we have a very short rehearsal period before the performances. They scheduled a photo shoot for the second day we were here, and since we didn't have the costumes yet, the PR guy had the very clever idea to copy a former Vanity Fair cover of Cindy Crawford shaving K.D. Lang who was reclining in an old time Barber's chair.[...]"

"[...]I am soooooo not a sexy vixen in real life, so this photo shoot was a big stretch for me, but he finally got some good expressions at the end of the shoot when I just gave up and stopped trying.[...]"

Please, girl...the secksiness has liftoff -- destination: Jennifer Rivera. Frankly, we wish that wardrobe & make-up could have been a bit fiercer (like smokey, sultry eyes/red lips for la Rivera paired with a couture/vintage dress & accessories) but we give it A+++ for effort for rubbing us in all the right places. We understand we're working with a limited budget here.

We hope to find Ms. Rivera in 2011 @ Teatro Communale di Bologna's La Clemenza in the reprisal of Graham Vick's masterful production we saw last May in Torino. We thoroughly lauded Monica Bacelli's Sesto (La Rivera was the secondary cast's Sesto), but are looking forward to sampling her skillz. Maybe like, a sultry Sesto? hmmmm...

Comments

[digable]

I love these photos. Too bad they put Greg Schmidt in a frumpy off the racks suit. He's so much better looking than that in person.

I'm a big fan of mixing sex with opera. It's one of the visceral themes in so many of our favorite librettos. And it makes opera so much more exciting!

[Little Miss Tenorpants]

More please!

[Roy]

I am a huge fan of J-Riv! I'm very much digging her expression in the second photo. I like how the roles are reversed and Rosina is driving. This is Barbiere for the '00s.