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| Figaro and Susana, Countess and Count |
There is
nothing better than a good laugh, especially when there seems to be an
endless trail of “doom and gloom” stories in the news. The
Marriage of
Figaro with music by Mozart and sung in Italian, is an operatic comedy. I was excited to
experience my first opera where someone did not meet their demise in the name of love!
Reflection
I have discovered a new interest in the
opera during
my empty-nest period (see
Day 239-Tosca). They all seem to be such “larger than life”
productions with extravagant sets, powerful voices, and beautiful
symphonic music.
The Marriage of Figaro was less extravagant than my past experiences but it was filled with wonderfully whimsical music. Much of
Mozart’s 1786 composition, especially the overture, has been played
outside of this opera and thus the music was familiar to my
ears. (
listen here)
In this four act opera no one died. In fact, most of the action centered round the playful antics
during a 24 hour period before the impending marriage of Figaro (the
Count Almavia’s head servant) to Susana (the Countess Rosina Almavia’s maid).
The Count (Christian Bowers) had a thing for
Susana (Joella Harvey) and wished to exercise his noble right to take the place of his servant
on his wedding night. He continued to try to delay their wedding. He also tried to force the marriage of Figaro to an old woman, Marcellina (Leah de Gruyl) to satisfy his debt. Then in Act 4 Marcellina discovers that Figaro (Tyler Simpson) is her long lost son.
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| Figaro gets the girl, Susana |
The Countess (Danielle Pastin) fearing that her husband has lost interest in
her, schemes with Susana and Figaro to teach him a lesson. They convince the
page boy, Cherubino (Corrie Stallings) to dress up as Susana in order to trick the Count. You get the picture, there is a lot of
twist and turns and mistaken identities that result in laughter but in the end the Count
and Countess fall back in love and Figaro gets his girl!
There were 12 strong characters in this opera and many shared the
stage together in song. Since there was so much movement, I often just stopped trying to follow the action and English subtitles and enjoyed the music. Especially in Act 3 when both Susana
(Joelle Harvey) and the Countess (Danielle
Pastin) produced such beautiful soprano melodies.
This light- hearted opera with familiar music and a twist of laughter was a welcomed new
operatic experience. I intend to keep the
Pittsburgh Opera Season in my
survival toolbox because thus far, I have enjoyed the diverse variety in their shows.
(Their next show in January,
The Long Walk, is a contemporary American
Opera about a solder's struggles after his return from the Iraq war.)
Other Sources
