Pronounciation of Opera "Barber of Seville"
 

Now I know how to pronounce the city of Seville (Sa-veeya)..but does anyone know if that's how you pronouce the Opera Title? I've only heard it pronounced "Barber of SeVIL"...weird question but it came up in conversation!

if you are speaking english i would say

barber of seVILL.

if you are speaking spanish it is "barbero de sevilla". ( say-vee-ya)

i would not mix the languages since in the title it is not mixed.

Agreed. If you're using the English title, Barber of Seville, then I would pronounce Se-VILL.

If you're trying to snobby, then you should refer the opera by its Italian name, Il barbiere di Siviglia, as the original title and libretto is in Italian.

Snobby it is then… but only in Castilian Spanish!

Seville isn't pronounced as sa-veeya, that's the pronunciation of the name in Spanish, which isn't spelled that way. In fact, if you are French, it is Séville and is pronounced different that the Spanish or English versions, and that was actually the original name since it was based on a play of a Frenchman, Caron de Beaumarchais.

And between all of you, the guidance is clear:
pronounce the name of the city as the haircutter would. If he's a barbiere, go with the Italian Seviglia ("Seh-vilya"), if he's a barber, then good old "Suh-vil" will do.

Here I have to quote the line spoken by the puppet Marguerite in the musical, CARNIVAL, boasting about her opera career:

"Of course my greatest performance was as Barbara of Seville!" (She also claimed to have done well as Carmen in "Aida", and as the Madame in "Butterfly."

Tomasso, thats funny.

Many, many years ago when they weren't as popular as thy would soon become, and I was a newly graduated and poor student with ambitions of being a cutting edge host and cook (theres a laugh!) I hosted a murder mystery dinner for 8 close friends in my apartment. It was great fun and one of the characters was an opera diva who'd just completed a disastrous run as the lead in "Barbara of Seville".
The part was played by my then GF who not being even remotely opera inclined, completely missed the joke.

In Castillan it is Sevilla.

Adu, how will the Castillian's pronounce it? Is it something like "Thevijhah", or am I totally off the mark?

totally off the mark

Sa-VEE-ya.

It's sounds pithy no matter how you say it. Yeth, pithy :)

aduchamp.. i tend to disagree on the spanish pronunciation although nothing to get too wrapped up in.

i would say it is

say-VEE-ya not "sa"

No problem. No wonder no one understand me.

bdjt, you enunciate (yeah, enunciate) the reason I asked about those Castillians ... I've heard that "cathtijhian" sort of sound before. But maybe I've heard an exaggerated, comic version?

Funny, but if you pronounce it any different than "say-VEE-lya", in this country you'd be considered a moron.

Maybe we're not as liberal as we think :D

Tomasso, The Spanish lisp on c; I don't believe they do it on s.

Zerlina, lisping on the c is common in the south (Andalucia, Extremadura, parts of Castilla-La Mancha) and even there are places in Andalucia and Extremadura where they don´t lisp.

Even more, a very exagerated Sevillian accent would be similar to Tomasso´s pronunciation, with that lisp on the "S" ... but of course, it should be accompanied with a certain accent ;)

Bye, Cova

Tommassocrocccante.... thank you for reminding me of Barbara! Years ago I used to listen to the Carnival album over and over. Must see if I still have it.
(Other favorite line was Kay Ballard's character proclaiming: "That dirty rat.. he treats me like...a wife!")

If you are the type who says to people, "last summer I visited Paree", or "I just love Venezia", then by all means use the Spanish pronunciation of the city when talking about the opera. But it is pretentious as best, just like speaking the French pronunciation of Paris or the Italian pronunciation of Venice would be in general English conversation.