Giovanni Paisiello, Il barbiere di Siviglia (1782)

Rossini's was not the first Barbiere!  But as with Guillaume Tell, he assimilated the subject matter and drove the original into obscurity, just like the Borg.  Is that like the Borg?  It's not, really.  I just used the word "assimilate."  That's hardly good enough.  But although this one isn't well-known today, it was very popular in its time.  Paisiello's wikipedia page claims he was the most popular opera composer of the late eighteenth century.  How the wheel turns.

Well, this has a completely different libretto from the later version, but it's the same story: Count Almaviva wants to marry Rosina, but her guardian Don Bartolo also wants to do this thing.  But with Figaro's help, everything is resolved happy and amusing fashion.  I think I'd have to see the two back to back to elucidate the specific differences between the two.  

Hey man, Paisiello was popular for a reason, and don't you forget it!  This is really good!  According to the DVD sleeve notes, some people were indignant when Rossini did his version, that this upstart would try to upstage Giovanni P.  He certainly became the dominant force in Barbiere operas, but is that merited?  Well...honestly, it's not clear to me which of the two is better.  They're both really good.  The only thing I didn't like in this production, at least, was this one scene where the music is punctuated by servants loudly yawning and sneezing in turn.  I found this tremendously annoying, but I don't know if it's part of the libretto.  I doubt it.  But IN ANY CASE, even if we stipulate that Rossini's is better, it's definitely not better enough that there should be eighteen thousand filmed productions of his version and only two of Paisiello's--though it's actually kind of surprising that it's that many; it's certainly more than many an obscure opera.

Seriously, he's one great music dude.  He wrote a shit-ton of operas, but only a tiny handful are available on disc.  It really is a shame that I can't get absolutely everything I want the instant I want it, but maybe if the rest of the world wakes up to the importance of this, there will be more in the future.