Depend Almaviva (Charles H. Eaton) and Countess Almaviva (Brittany Olivia Logan). Images by Wealthy Kessler; courtesy of Wolf Lure Opera.
The Marraige of Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro, 1786) was the primary of three well-liked operas by the staff of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, additionally together with Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. Briefly, within the play by Beaumarchais, Depend Almavira needs to mattress Susanna, his spouse’s servant, supposedly justified by droit du seigneur (proper of the lord); that is the purported feudal proper of a lord to mattress a servant lady on her wedding ceremony night time earlier than her husband can sleep along with her, a proper the Depend himself had simply disavowed. Susanna’s betrothed, Figaro, in cahoots along with her, the Countess, and a love-struck web page, Cherubino, lay plans to outwit the Depend. Plots and subplots are begun and go astray, and hilarious surprises abound in classical opera buffa fashion.
As was the case for all Mozart/Da Ponte collaborations, there’s extra afoot than comedy. As Albert Camus reportedly mentioned, “Fiction is the lie via which we inform the reality”. Societal change, rippling via Europe at the moment, was a goal of Figaro. Beaumarchais’ play, was barred from manufacturing in Vienna by the emperor because of incendiary language inspiring topics to throw off the yoke of the the Aristocracy. Da Ponte needed to scale back and modify the spoken play to textual content that may very well be sung in an opera that he would possibly be capable to cross beneath Emperor Joseph II’s radar. Within the opera, Figaro sings, “Effectively, little depend, if you wish to dance, I’ll select the tune.” The play’s language was way more direct and incendiary. The aria makes the purpose that the servant doesn’t settle for the depend’s yoke of management, however in a safer method, flavored by excessive comedy to make the medication go down. Worldly-wise Da Ponte and Mozart knew the right way to navigate the terrain.
