How did the audience respond to the second performance of The Barber of Seville?

While the premiere of Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville was a disastrous opening night plagued by mishaps and heckling from supporters of composer Giovanni Paisiello, the second performance was met with a starkly different reception.12

Rossini, anticipating another failure, did not attend the second performance. However, the audience proved to be wildly enthusiastic, presumably because the disruptive fans from the premiere were absent. The response was so positive that, following the performance, admirers gathered in the streets outside the composer’s house to applaud and cheer for him in person.12