Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte's operatic masterpiece draws its plot from Beaumarchais' controversial play, "La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro" (The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro).
This play, part of a trilogy, challenged the aristocracy by portraying them negatively while elevating the common people. In Beaumarchais' earlier play, known today through Rossini's opera, "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" (The Barber of Seville), Count Almaviva, under a false identity to avoid the influence of his esteemed title, wishes to have the charming Rosina as his own. Figaro assists Almaviva in winning Rosina from her guardian, Doctor Bartolo. Almaviva reveals his true identity, Bartolo swears to have vengeance, and that part of the trilogy comes to a close.
"Le nozze di Figaro" is the first collaboration between the composer and librettist, and tells the story of the next installment of the trilogy. The plot is filled with mistaken identity, surprise paternity, and intrigue, as the servants Figaro and Susanna triumph in marriage while comically thwarting the attempts of the philandering Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna.
Central to "The Marriage of Figaro" is the "droit du seigneur," a supposed feudal right granting the lord of the manor the first night with a servant's bride. As "The Marriage of Figaro" begins, the Count has ostensibly renounced this right. However, as Figaro prepares to marry Susanna, the Countess's servant, Almaviva attempts to reinstate this feudal right to pursue her.
The opera highlights how the entitled and emotionally immature Count Almaviva will stop at nothing to get his own way. With the help of his once sworn enemies (now turned corrupt political allies and lap dogs), the Count pulls out all the stops in an effort to get his own way.
His zany schemes include elevating unqualified low-level employees to military posts, silencing past transgressions with young female employees through political bribery, hypocritically following judicial rulings that serve his political and personal gain while overturning or ignoring other judicial rulings that do not suit his desires, and even firing employees in his own government who fail to deliver the legal and political outcome he seeks. All in self-serving megalomaniac behaviour to settle the score of personal and political betrayals and to satisfy his power lust. Ultimately, the Count is outwitted by his clever subordinates, as Susanna and Figaro devise an ingenious plan to thwart him and secure their marriage.
The characters in this opera embody our shared humanity, expressing a spectrum of intense emotions: love, lust, jealousy, greed, revenge, nostalgia, and ultimately, forgiveness. Mozart and DaPonte are masters of moving seamlessly between farcical moments that are painted with a broad brush and intricately detailed moments of poignant delicacy.
The farcical nature of the plot softens Beaumarchais' intense satirical barbs against the Pre-Revolutionary French aristocratic reign and embodies the revolutionary spirit of Pierre Beaumarchais.
Our production features a spectacular Art Deco design, an aesthetic and style that complement the opera's revolutionary theme of the "lower class" outsmarting the "upper class." This iconic setting evokes and honors the revolutionary spirit of Beaumarchais' original play. The opera's enduring message—that all individuals deserve equal rights and treatment under the law—remains as powerful and pertinent today as it was in 1786 when the opera was composed.
Tickets (link coming soon)
Performance Schedule
Friday, March 27, 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 28, 3 & 8 p.m.
Sunday, March 29, 3 p.m.