Opera in the Outfield, 2008 (photo by Leah Jones for Washington National Opera)

Washington National Opera hit upon a great way to spread interest in opera last year with the first installment of an event it calls Opera in the Outfield. Next month, the company will offer another free high-definition simulcast of its season-opening production, Rossini’s evergreen (or, overdone) The Barber of Seville, to a large crowd at Nationals Park, providing access to what happens inside the company’s theater to a wider audience. In this economic downturn, it does not hurt that it will cost you nothing.

This year’s event, set for Saturday, September 12 (simulcast at 7 p.m., with the park open for “pre-game” activities at 5:30 p.m.) is sponsored by Target, MARS Corporation, the Washington Nationals, WMATA and MarcParc Valet, with media partners ABC 7/News Channel 8 and Classical WETA 90.9 FM. In partnership with the American Armed Forces Foundation, WNO will honor America’s troops at the event, with approximately 5,000 military personnel and their families expected to be in attendance. You do not even have to register or RSVP to attend, although you can contact the organizers about arranging special VIP seating if you like. Stadium concessions will be open, and at a later date there will be information about pre-ordering a picnic spread. Barber is a zany comic opera that is likely to provide a good introduction to the pleasures of opera for the first-time opera-goer. The cast, especially tenor Lawrence Brownlee as Count Almaviva, should make for worthy listening, too.