Le nozze di Figaro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Opera buffa in four acts / libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte based on Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchai’s play “La folle journée ou le mariage de Figaro” / in Italian with German and English surtitles
Synopsis
In a fit of enlightenment and love for his wife Rosina, Count Almaviva generously abolished the droit du seigneur years ago. Too bad, because this would have granted him the right to claim the wedding night of any of his subordinates. And by now, his love for Rosina has faded, whom he had once abducted from the house of her guardian with Figaro’s help, and the Count has fallen for Susanna, Figaro’s fiancée. The young servant Cherubino’s affirmations of love for Countess Rosina, the cunning scheme to sabotage the wedding of Figaro and Susanna plotted by Bartolo and jealous Marcellina and the appearances of the drunken gardener Antonio further add to the chaos of emotions at the Count’s court.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) loved writing music for and about people and he evidently enjoyed setting these characters and their personalities to music. The opera’s humour and its many confusions, mix-ups, disguises and concealments made it possible to express harsh social criticism without taking the moral high ground. A performance ban in 1784 nearly ended the success story of this classic opera even before it had begun. It took Lorenzo da Ponte all his powers of persuasion to obtain the permission to have his satire on social injustice set to music. He was forced to tone down the political topicality and frivolity but the comedy retained its biting and serious overtones.
This popular comic opera – which premiered on 1 May, 1786 at the Hofoperntheater in Vienna and has long since become an undisputed classic of musical theatre – is primarily a play about human relationships, love, faith, jealousy, guile, confession, forgiveness and reconciliation.
After “Don Giovanni” and “Così fan tutte”, Jacopo Spirei now stages the third opera in the Da Ponte cycle for the Salzburg State Theatre. Spirei has for instance directed productions at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe and at the San Francisco Opera (June 2017). The Mozarteum Orchestra shines under the direction of Adrian Kelly.
Reviews
"Nach „Don Giovanni“ und „Così fan tute“ ergänzt der Regisseur Jacopo Spirei den da Ponte-Zyklus der Mozart-Opern. Mit einem fein austarierten und balancierten Ensemble sowohl im Gesang wie auch in der enorm spielfreudigen Aktion. Ein schöner Erfolg. Wieder einmal: der meinerseitige Besuchsbefehl!“
„Jacopo Spirei hat diese zeitlos gültige Oper, in der beißende Gesellschaftskritik mit unsterblichen Melodien verwoben ist, in Szene gesetzt. Witzig, kurzweilig und pointiert. Ein Solistenensemble, in dem es keine Schwachstelle gab – selten guter Mozartklang. Fazit: Wer Oper nicht grundsätzlich langweilig findet, sollte sich ‚Le nozze di Figaro‘ im Landestheater unbedingt anschauen, denn besser geht es kaum.“
Cast
Musical Direction and Conductor
Adrian Kelly
Director
Jacopo Spirei
Stage and Costume Design
Bettina Richter
Dirigent
Adrian Kelly
Robin Davis
Dramaturgy
Katrin König
Il Conte di Almaviva
George Humphreys
Elliott Carlton Hines
La Contessa di Almaviva
Anne-Fleur Werner
Angela Davis
Susanna
Laura Nicorescu
Figaro
Aubrey Allicock
Raimundas Juzuitis
Cherubino
Shahar Lavi
Arina Alexeeva
Marcellina
Frances Pappas
Bartolo
Raimundas Juzuitis
Basilio
Ks. Franz Supper
Gürkan Gider
Don Curzio
Alexander Hüttner
Barbarina
Tamara Ivaniš
Antonio
Michael Schober
due donne
Sylvia Offermans
Desislava Ilieva
Chor
Chor des Salzburger Landestheaters
Orchestra Mozarteumorchester Salzburg