The Marriage of Figaro is a comedy in five acts, written in 1778 by Pierre Beaumarchais. This play is the second in the Figaro trilogy, preceded by The Barber of Seville and followed by The Guilty Mother.
Summary:
The Marriage of Figaro picks up three years following the end of The Barber of Seville as Figaro is engaged to be married to Suzanne; both characters are among the Count's staff in his household.
In the three years since Figaro helped forge the marriage of the Count and Rosine, the Count has already grown bored with his marriage and is taking notice of Suzanne. The Count looks to re-engage the act of primae noctis, in which he would consummate the marriage with the bride-to-be prior to Figaro's honeymoon.
Mozart's Marriage of Figaro as Comic Opera Version:
An opera buffa with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte.
The opera premiered at the Burgtheater, Vienna on 1 May 1786. It was well received and nearly every scene received an encore, which made the performance so long that the Emperor did not like this and wanted it to stop.
The opera is based on the 1778 French play 'The Marriage of Figaro' by Pierre Beaumarchais.
The play was very controversial in its day (and even banned briefly in France), but the play's questionable material was removed and Da Ponte's libretto passed the Viennese censors.
The Play:
Composed in 1786 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's classic opera has all the ingredients of a modern rom-com: love, revenge, and deception.
Watch courtship turn to chaos for two servants, Figaro and Susanna, as their plans to wed are thwarted by the lecherous Count Almaviva. Lose yourself in Mozart's timeless melodies and witty libretto as the talented cast lead us through a myriad of mistaken identities, mishaps, and misunderstandings.
Will our hero finally get his bride, or will the marriage of Figaro ultimately descend into mayhem?
The performance is sung in Italian but we have English subtitles.
Cast:
Count Almaviva: Harry Thatcher
Countess Rosina Almaviva: Josephine Goddard
Susanna: Julieth Lozano
Figaro: Adam Maxey
Cherubino: Lauren Joyanne Morris
Marcellina: Katy Thomson
Bartolo: Timothy Edlin
Basilio: Joel Williams
Don Curzio: Samuel Jenkins
Barbarina: Poppy Shotts
Antonio: Conall O’Neill
Housemaid 1: Camilla Harris
Housemaid 2: Jessica Cale
Wet Nurse: Annabel Kennedy
Head Housekeeper: Rebecca Leggett
Kitchen Maids: Alice Ruxandra Bell & Olivia Turner
Laundry Maid: Samantha Gaspe
Dairy Maid: Rebekah Jones
Gardeners: Dafydd Allen, Peter Edge, Conall O’Neill &Humphrey Thompson
Footmen: Peter Dunn & Matthew Keighley
Head Footman: Xavier Hetherington
Stable Boys: Michael Bell & Adam West
RCM Opera Orchestra
Conductor: Michael Rosewell
Director: Sir Thomas Allen
Set Designer: Lottie Higlett
Lighting Designer: Rory Beaton
Act I: 00:00:00
Act II: 00:47:26
Act III: 01:36:57
Act IV: 02:19:38
The Film:
The 1976 Jean-Pierre Ponnelle film with Hermann Prey, Mirella Freni, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Kiri Te Kanawa & Maria Ewing. Conducted by Karl Böhm with the Wiener Philharmoniker.
No Dancin' but Fishin'.
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