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W.A. Mozart, German woodcut c. 1930.
Mozart’s 'Figaro' – a Marriage made in Heaven - four online talks by Ian Page
Tickets from
£55
5th September 2024
The Marriage of Figaro is widely considered to be the greatest opera ever written. Composed in 1786, it set to music a highly licentious play by Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais that had been written in pre-revolutionary Paris just eight years previously, and Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte had to promise the Viennese authorities that they were omitting all of the play’s controversial political content. Mozart, however, knew that a story could be told with more than words…
As he prepares for his next production of the opera – which will include a performance at the Teatro Comunale in Siracusa as part of MRT’s ‘Opera in Sicily’ Festival – conductor and Mozart specialist Ian Page presents a listeners’ guide in the form of four talks on the opera, one for each act. Placing the work in the context of Mozart’s own trajectory and the evolution of opera as an art form, the series will focus primarily on the composer’s extraordinary ability to communicate character, subtext, emotion and profound insights into the essence of the human condition.
Each talk will explore the choices that Mozart made in setting Da Ponte’s libretto, his approach to melody and harmony, his knowledge and understanding of the human voice, his use of the orchestra to reflect and underline the narrative, his gift for comedy and his consummate control of the narrative in what has been described as 'this ultimate miracle of composition'.
They take place every Thursday from 5th–26th September at 4.30pm (London) and, including Q&A, will probably last just under an hour. They are available for viewing for eight weeks after the last episode is streamed (21st November 2024).
Talks
From the famously effervescent bustle of the overture to Figaro’s iconic 'Non più andrai' – the tune that Mozart heard being whistled in the streets of Prague – every number in the opening act of Le nozze di Figaro is prescribed to be played either fast or very fast. The music nevertheless has remarkable range and variety, and establishes the gossamer wit and intrigue that pervades the whole opera.
The introduction of the forlorn, neglected Countess Almaviva brings a new pathos and emotional depth to proceedings, a mood which not even Cherubino dressing up as Susanna and jumping from an upstairs window can entirely dispel. The act culminates in an astonishing chain-finale where bursts of high-octane shenanigans alternate with suspenseful moments where time seems to stand still, and Mozart judges the dramatic pacing with unprecedented mastery.
The third act incorporates great arias for both the Count and the Countess, in which they ultimately determine to overcome their obstacles, insecurities and frustrations. It also includes the ‘Letter Duet’ for the Countess and Susanna, which acquired newfound fame when featured in the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption, and the sextet in which the startling truth about Figaro’s parentage is revealed was a particular favourite of Mozart’s.
By the start of the final act Susanna and Figaro have married, but on their wedding night in the gardens of the Almaviva’s estate everything threatens to unravel. At the denouement, as the Count goes down on his knees to beg forgiveness from the Countess, Mozart’s music transforms what is a surprisingly perfunctory moment in Beaumarchais’ play into an event that can be seen as the apotheosis of the themes of empathy, forgiveness and redemption that run through the composer’s entire operatic output.
Expert speaker
Mr Ian Page
Conductor and artistic director of The Mozartists, and is one of the leading Mozart interpreters of his generation. His visionary MOZART 250 project follows the chronological trajectory of the composer’s life, works and influences across 27 years, and his numerous recordings include the first seven releases in a projected complete cycle of the Mozart Operas. Twitter: @IanPageMozart | Website: ianpageconductor.com
Frequently asked questions
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