Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro ... A marriage worth all the follies to hear about
Apr 30 '07 (Updated May 24 '08)
The Bottom Line A perfect opera, the music of which even non-opera fans have heard before even if you don't know where it came from. Well... how 'bout finding out here?
W.A. Mozart’s LE NOZZE DI FIGARO (The Marriage of Figaro), K.492: A Long Synopsis
Probably the most successful of the 3 opera by Wolfgang Mozart set to the libretto (text) of Lorenzo da Ponte, this 1786 farce is based on the 2nd of the famous Figaro plays by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchaise (the trilogy consists of The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro, and The Guilty Mother). It was written as a sequel to Giovanni Paisiello’s opera Il barbiere di Seviglia (The Barber of Seville) (the bel canto composer Rossini would write his own more famous version of Il barbiere based on the same libretto that Paisiello used 34 yrs later).
The Figaro plays were politically incorrect for the time, which means that they were humongous big hits... even when they were banned by the Viennese Emperor himself (among other monarchs at the time). To get around the ‘banning’, Mozart and da Ponte modified the story to make their making fun of the class struggle and the ignobleness of the nobility less obvious (at least in the lyric, that is... Musically old Wolfie pulls no punches). Substitute the nobility ranking with political power and social classes, and this show remains remarkably relevant even in our time. The servants can’t confront their lords and so must outwit them with subtle intrigues instead.
In the previous play, Count Almaviva had teamed up with the barber Figaro (whose wit is as sharp as his scissors) to out smart the trio of Dr. Bartolo, Don Basilio (Rosina’s music teacher), and Marcellina (the elderly duenna), and successfully marry Bartolo’s ward Rosina. The Count rewarded Figaro by making him his valet, while also taking on Don Basilio as his organist to continue giving Rosina (now the Countess Almaviva) music lessons when needed. In his moment of grandeur, the Count also officially abolishes the jus primae noctis (droit du seigneur) which allows the lord to deflower the bride of his serf on their wedding night. An act of good will he will live to regret by the next play/opera.
The Marriage of Figaro opera takes place 2 years after the Almavivas’ wedding. It is essentially an ensemble opera with magnificent ensembles, a fair share of wonderful solos, and opens with one of the coolest overture imaginable. It doesn't quote from the music of the opera proper, but the buzz at the beginning yields a nice image of the busy as a bee (in everyone else's business) Figaro bumbling about and getting into and out of one sticky situation after another. It is a popular concert piece.
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=etpLYoaO3SQ
Act I opens in the room in the Almaviva household that the Count had designated for Figaro to live with his soon to be bride Susanna (the maid of the Countess Almaviva). Figaro is measuring the floor to see if the bed he is promised as a marital gift would fit, but Susanna successfully distracts him into looking at the bridal veil she had made for herself (hear how he abandons his tune to follow hers in the duet 'Cinque, diece, venti').
Figaro likes the convenient location of their room, but Susanna is suspicious of the Count’s motivation for placing their quarter so close to his (in order to have easy access to Susanna when Figaro is absent on errands). After their little argument (duet Se a caso madama), she leaves to answer a call from the Countess, Figaro's mood darkens as he considers the lack of respect given him by his lord and vows to out maneuver him(aria 'Se vuol ballare, signor contino' (If you want to dance, mister Little Count, you will dance to my music!). It shouldn't go unnoticed that the opening and the end of this number are set as a minuet, a courtly dance that folks of Figaro's class wouldn't dare hum in his sleep. I did say that Mozart pulls no punch against the self-important nobility in his music, ay?
Aside from the Count’s design on his bride, Figaro’s dilemma deepens by his inability to repay the loan he had obtained from Marcellina, the old mistress of Dr Bartolo, who had specified in the term of the loan that Figaro would marry her if he is unable to repay it. When Marcellina finds herself alone with Susanna, the two indulge themselves in duet of mutual distaste thinly disguised as compliments ('Via resti servito') before Susanna successfully rattle the old woman out of her room by her superior level of cattiness.
Being such a resourceful lovely young woman prevents Susanna from having a moment of peace, however. She is next pestered by the young page Cherubino, whose main objective in life is to bed every woman in sight... with the biggest prize being The Countess herself (aria Non so piu cosa son). His plight at having been caught by the Count earlier while deflowering the maid Barbarina worsens when his lordship decides to drop in on Susanna just then, forcing Cherubino to hide behind a chair. But the Count himself is also forced to take refuge on the other side of it when he and Susanna are surprised by Don Basilio, the interfering music teacher, in to gossip about Cherubino’s apparent crush on the Countess.
Propelled by a sudden bout of hypocritical jealousy, the Count reveals himself and the three break into a trio ('Cosa sento'), which turns surreal half way through when Cherubino is finally discovered. All is saved when Figaro ushers in a mass of distraction in the form of the chorus praising the Count’s abolition of the jus primae noctis. Cherubino is banished from the castle with an army commission while the Count successfully plays for time to plot to deflower Susanna on her wedding night by offering Figaro an offer he can’t refuse by throwing him a wedding party. The act ends with Figaro’s famous aria ‘Non piu andrai’ in sending Cherubino off to a more responsible military life (this music is now the Regimental March of England's Coldstream Guards).
Act II takes place in the Countess’ chamber. After only 2 years of marriage, the beautiful Rosina is now yesterday’s flower to her husband (a most dignified wistful aria ‘Porgi amor, qualche ristoro’), so she doesn't need much convincing before agreeing to aid Figaro and Susanna in their plot to teach the Count a lesson by having Cherubino dress up as Susanna, who will agree to a tryst with him, where he will be caught in compromising position.
After being informed of the plan by Figaro, Cherubino turns up at the Countess’ room to be refitted into a Susanna look-alike by the 2 women. He entertains his beloved Countess by serenading her with a song (aria ‘Voi che sapete che cosa e amor’. A far more sophisticated song than Beaumarchaise's original 'Marlbourg s'en va-t-en guerre'... also known in English as 'For He's A Jolly Good Fellow'). The cross-dressing takes longer than expected because Cherubino keeps turning to look at the Countess (Susanna’s exasperated aria ‘Venite, inginocchiatevi’. Sometimes replaced with the more virtuosic ‘Un moto di gioia’).
Finding the romantic attention from the young page gratifying, the Countess sends Susanna off to fetch another dress in order to be alone with him. The move backfires spectacularly when they are interrupted by the banging on the door by the Count himself, demanding immediate admission. Cherubino hides in the dressing room as the Countess stalls for time and Susanna, who had returned unnoticed by all, hides in a corner. When the Count forces his wife to accompany him to get the tools in order to force open the dressing room door (trio ‘Susanna, or via sortile’), Susanna successfully substitute herself into the dresser as Cherubino escapes by jumping out the window.
Not knowing she had been saved, the Countess confesses that Cherubino is in the closet before the door is forced open to reveal Susanna instead. Proving that no good barber can keep away from a scene of confusion, Figaro shows up and finds himself in hot water prevaricating away the letter of commission that Cherubino had accidentally left on the scene and Antonio the gardener’s testimony that he had seen a man jumped out of the Countess’ window earlier and flattened his flower bed in the process. The Act ends in a magnificent 20 minutes long ensemble as Dr Bartolo, Don Basilio, and Marcellina join the batty party demanding that the loan paper be enforced (so that Figaro would have to marry the old girl instead of the young one).
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQG_3SiCNQs
Act III opens with the Count brooding over all the improbable things that had befallen him that day. In the mean time, Susanna and the Countess come up with a plot of their own for Susanna to offer the Count a rendezvous that night, which will be kept by the Countess herself in Susanna’s clothing (these gals really make me glad I’m single!!). Having manages to present the Count her invitation (duet ‘Crudel! Perche finora farmi languir cosi? (Cruel one, why do you torment me so?)’), Susanna's exclamation to Figaro that he has already won his case with Marcellina is overheard by the Count himself. Full of misgivings, he rages to himself of being played by his peasants over and over again (aria 'Vedro, mentr'io sospiro').
He is temporalily pacified when the stuttering Magistrate Don Curzio hands down his judgement in favor of Marcellina at Figaro’s loan trial. In a twist worthy of a comic opera, Figaro is recognized by his birthmark as the long lost son of Marcellina and Dr Bartolo (sextet ‘Riconosci in questo amplesso’) and doesn’t have to marry his own mother after all! After some initial misunderstandings with Susanna, the wedding party grow to a double wedding when Bartolo and Marcellina decide to finally wed on the same day as their son.
In another part of the castle, the Countess spends a lonely moment musing of what hope there is for happiness in her marriage (aria ‘Dove sono i bei momenti’). She then dictates a letter for Susanna to present to the Count confirming their evening tryst (the jaw-droppingly gorgeous duet ‘Che soave zeffiretto’), not knowing that Antonio had alerted the Count that Cherubino had still not left for the army as he was ordered to. Cherubino proves himself talented at being caught in a mischief once more by being discovered attending the wedding party with Barbarina while dressed as a flower girl. He is allowed to stay for the wedding to avoid causing more unseemly scenes.
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAE9379CGIM
Act IV opens in the garden that night with Figaro, who hadn’t been in on the Countess’ and Susanna’s plot, learns from Barbarina that his wife had passed a letter to the Count during the wedding (aria ‘L’ho perduta’). Convinced that Susanna had betrayed him, he resolves to catch her and the Count in their tryst, asking Basilio and Bartolo along as witnesses. Marcellina decides that girls should stick together; however, and sides with Susanna (aria ‘Il capro e la capretta’).
After having worked himself into a rage in his jealousy (aria ‘Aprite un po’ quegl’ occhi’), Figaro overhears Susanna (in disguised as the Countess and singing ‘Deh vieni, non tardar... sometimes replaced with an elaborated rondo, ‘Al desio’), a very romantically suggestive song that opera-goers have been debating for the past 200+ years if she is singing it to Figaro (having spotted him before and now having some girlish fun at his expense) or if she is really singing it for the Count.
With love in the air, everyone goes loony and loses the ability to see straight. Cherubino mistakes Susanna for the Countess and begs her for a kiss before being chased off by The Count. Figaro mistakes Susanna for the Countess before recognizing his wife’s voice, but then earns a slap when he pretends to court her as the Countess. And the Count’s disingenuous outrage at having found Figaro with the Countess is spoiled when the real Countess in Susanna’s clothing takes off her disguise. All is forgiven in the magnificent ensemble finale ‘Contessa perdonna’.
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWxclaU-Db0
To sample music from this opera, go to : http://213.188.106.66/serie40.htm (Thanks to the MOZART-TOWER site)
The Marriage of Figaro is one of the most performed opera ever for good reasons. The music defines immortality and drives the story forward magnificently. Though the bass-baritone Figaro has some great things to sing, the story really focuses on the 2 ladies; Susanna (who is in practically all the ensemble numbers) and the Countess (whose shorter stage time is well compensated by 2 wonderful solos). Even the half lady (well... a lady pretending to be a man who spends half the opera pretending to be a lady, at any rate) Cherubino has 2 of the most popular mezzo solos to sing. Cherubino has always been sung/played by a woman, by the way, and never by a castrato. Beaumarchaise insists on it in his note on the characters. This character is not a real servant but a young man from a respectable family who is sent to serve a nobility in order to be educated in the ways of the nobles... Probably a young Don Juan in the making!
Played straight through, this opera is around 3½ hours long, but the premiere performance of it actually lasted nearly twice that because the Viennese couldn’t get enough of it and kept demanding encore (they didn’t have a stereo back then, see... and no musicians’ union either!). It is a good testimony to Mozart’s skills as a composer that this thing doesn’t last 5 hrs, considering all the twists and intrigues the script calls for (too bad he didn’t live to teach the long-winded Richard Wagner how that’s done!). Once you have heard the ensemble that ends the opera, you would understand what would compels even attention deficit people like me to stay until the last note is heard in this work.
There are many wonderful recordings of this opera, not the least of which is the DVD from the 1994 Glyndebourne Festival and the CD of a 1961 recording on EMI label. Have a listen at the Mozart-Tower site and don’t miss the next show of the opera at the theater in the city near you. There really is nothing like hearing Mozart’s music performed live in an auditorium, mates. Three plus hours of sonic elixir if there is such a thing.
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