What a difference a day makes. This past Friday evening, the Opera Company of Philadelphia closed out its season-opener staging of Verdi's A Masked Ball. The next evening, they launched a six-performance run of Rossini's The Barber of Seville. The two productions shared many principal elements: same conductor, same director, there was even a singer who was in both operas, bass Tigran Martirossian. The Verdi was magnificently sung, but seemed static and even clumsy as a work of theater. The Rossini, on the other hand, swirled delightfully about the stage, and the flow of the comedy was seamless.

It's hard to pinpoint the differences between the two productions. Obviously, to start with, these are very different operas, the Verdi dark and tragic and the Rossini famously frothy. But clearly, whereas the cast of the Verdi simply did not seem to gel, there was a chemistry for the Rossini that made the story spring to life.

At the comedic center of this laugh-out-loud Barber was the singer in the role of Dr. Bartolo, Pittsburgh's own Kevin Glavin. This will be no surprise to those who heard him in the title role of Don Pasquale last season, but if anything, his acting has become even more precise and refined. Yes, this is broad farce, but Rossini allows for considerable subtlety as well, as Glavin's performance deftly displays. His singing is supple and projects effortlessly, and his jovial stage presence seems to inspire his cohorts, including a trio of Italian imports: the Rosina of soprano Laura Polverelli, baritone Roberto De Candia as Figaro, and tenor Antonino Siragusa as Count Almaviva.

OCP general director Robert B. Driver, filling in at the last minute, directed the proceedings with an easy, graceful flow that eluded him in the Verdi. Directing Rossini requires something of the sensibility of a choreographer, and this production danced with joy.

The naming of Corrado Rovaris as music director two years ago was one of the best decisions OCP has made in recent years, and a continued shot in the arm as the company continues to rebuild following the sudden death of their visionary president Jack Mulroney last year. The conductor, whose work always stands out for its buoyancy and precision (his Verdi was superbly dynamic), drew terrific playing from the orchestra. Rovaris has a superb sense for opera buffa, and these works have marked the high points in his tenure so far.