In 1786, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was 30 years old and was already considered a world-renowned musicians for his many concertos, sonatas, symphonies and chamber pieces (Bakalar, 2009). During his relatively short career, he died at age 35, he would go on to compose eighteen operas. The Marriage of Figaro, or Le Nozze di Figaro as the original Italian has it, is one of his most important works for several reasons. In the first place it is considered in and of itself to be a masterpiece. After it’s premier the periodical Wiener Realzuitung said of Mozart’s music, “It contains so many beauties, and such a wealth of ideas, as can be drawn only from the source of innate genius” (Geiringer, 1982). It also was the first opera to kick of the start of one of his most artistic stages when he would produce he most renowned work. It also marked the first time that Mozart would collaborate with librettist Lorenzo di Ponte, which whom he would later collaborate with on works Cosí Fan Tutte and Don Giovanni. This essay analyzes the historical context with which The Marriage of Figaro appeared and then turns its focus on the piece itself, how it was historically preformed and received and the stylistic performance practice and artistic direction that has evolved around this opera which has been preformed for over two hundred years.
Mozart was active in the late 18th century in Europe was an exciting time for artists, philosophers, and those wanting to exercise the mind. It was a time of great change, with an emerging world happening across the Atlantic Ocean and Enlightenment bearing artistic fruits in a wide range of spheres. (Berlin, 1956). It was only a decade after the United States had officially become a country that The Marriage of Figaro premiered in Vienna at the Burg Theater on May 1st 1786.
Such a good review of the opera was significant. With the Enlightenment in full swing, and Vienna being at the time the musical capital of Europe, this was to Opera what Broadway was to New York plays. Charles Burney was a musical biographer of the time and he wrote that, “Vienna is so rich in composers and encloses within its walls such a number of musicians of superior merit that it is the imperial seat of music, as well of power” (Baumol, 1994).
At the time the Opera was very much in vogue and fashionable with the rich elite. It had a number of critiques and so each new opera needed to stand up to the scrutiny of those regulating the status quo of the time. Mozart was well paid for producing The Marriage of Figaro, and it earned him in the six weeks that it took him to compose it three times the salary he had earned his annual compensation when he had worked as a court musician in Salzburg. The opera was commissioned and paid for by the Imperial Italian opera company.
William J. Baumol in his article “On The Economics of Musical Composition in Mozart’s Vienna” argues that it is the historical context of the value of the ruling elite and wealthy put into the arts, especially opera which made such 18th Century Vienna and other such cities like Prague fertile ground for musical and artistic geniuses to flourish unhindered. Opera is an art from which combines elements of many. It requires a number of paid musicians, actors, writers, and composers. Because all players in this were well compensated, the art form was able to rise to its highest occasion. Baumol suggests that “reason for this phenomenon [were] the underlying economic causes which had a profound effect on music and musicians” (Baumol, 1994). He refutes some scholars who characterized Mozart as being plagued with poverty and argues that he was relatively well off, especially in his period of living in Vienna. He acknowledges that neither economic and political conditions can create talent, but points out they have the ability to “Either inhibit it or provide opportunities for its exercise” (Baumol, 1994).
Baumol’s essay provides some background into what led to the state of political and economic affairs that led to creating the Vienna that Mozart knew. It came as a result of a political division of what had been the Holy Roman Empire, Habsburg was one of these holding and was ruled by Emperor Joseph II. He was not just the political ruler at the time, he was also in charge of the Burgtheatre and made certain restrictions on lengths that artists and directors would have been careless to ignore.
Having the ruler of a state also be in charge of a theatre could be seen as a hindrance to free artistic expression, but it can also be seen as an advantage, since it shows the esteem the political climate at the time showed these works of art. Joseph II approved the text of the opera even before Mozart began working on the composition of the music.
The play is an adaption from the existing French play “The Barber of Seville” written by Pierre Beaumarchais. This play had been banned due to its licentiousness and it’s rallying against the ruling elite. In order to adapt it so that it would be approved major changes were made to the work as it was converted into its operatic form of “The Marriage of Figaro.” Most notably when written into a libretto is was adapted from French to Italian and all political references were removed. Da Ponte took out a climactic soliloquy made by Figaro against inherited nobility into one rallying against unfaithful wives.
However, despite the toning down of these aspects of the play, Mozart was not immune to some consequences and fallout from the Opera. His fame that had been growing since he wrote his first opera as a teenager began to dwindle after the premier of The Marriage of Figaro. The nobility and court began to be more wary of him because of the political tones that still were present in the adapted version of Beaumarchais play. It was then that he became in debt and needed to be assisted by Michael Puchberg, a fellow free mason.
The plot of the play recounts in four acts a single day of much activity in the court of Count Almaviva in his bucolic estate near Seville, taking place at the time in a contemporary period, the late 18th century. Two servants in the Count’s court, Figaro and Susanna are making preparations for their wedding. In the first scene Susanna informs Figaro that their master the count has been making advances towards her and wants to revive a bedding practice that he abolished when he was married. Under this custom a lord or count is able to sleep with a bride to be before the husband has wed her. Figaro vows to outwit his master and prevent this from happening. Other plots are afoot, as the character Dr. Bartolo wants Figaro to marry his housekeeper, whom he is in debt to. One stipulation of the debt was that if Figaro defaulted on it he would have to marry her.
In Act II the focus shifts from Figaro and Susana to the countess, who is in sorrow over the fact that her husband no longer has affection for her. She joins forces with Figaro and Susana and decides that she will collaborate with them in order to set a trap for the count. They decide to send the page Cherubino disguised as Susana to meet with the count. Susana then puts women’s clothing on Cherubino so that she appears to be her. As they are putting the disguise on there is a knock at the door and the count is surprised and irritated to find that the door is locked. Cherubino is quickly hidden in the closet. There is come commotion in the closet and when the count asks who is in there she tells him that it is Susana. He does not by that explanation. He takes his wife with her to get tools to open the door and while this is occurring Susana appears from her hiding place to help Cherubino escape through the window so both find Susana inside just as the countess has said and both the count and the countess are shocked to find then that when he opens the door that it is Susana inside just as the countess has said.
The next character in Act II to make an entrance is the gardener Antonio who complains that someone has damaged his flowers by jumping from the window. Figaro appears to announce that things are ready for the wedding and acts like he was the one who jumped. Then Marcellina and Basilio enter armed with court summons for Figaro to resolve the dispute of the debt that he owes Marcellina and her insistence that he marry her instead of Susana. The count is more than happy to postpone the wedding in order for court proceedings to be first resolved.
The scheming continues in Act III as Susanna tells the count that she promises to be with him while not actually planning to. In this act the countess laments that happiness that she has lost by falling out of be the object of the count’s affection. Figaro defends himself under the pretense that since he is an orphan he cannot be married without his parent’s permission. This does not work and Marcellina is triumphant in the court case but then notices a birthmark on Figaro’s arm and realizes to everyone’s astonishment that she is Figaro’s long lost mother. He fathered him with Bartolo and they agree to parry each other, joyful that they have found their son. The countess and Susana solidify their plot and write a letter to the count confirming the rendezvous between Susana and the count. The letter is slipped to the count at Susana and Figaro’s wedding ceremony.
The fourth and final act, Act IV brings the opera to its climax. Figaro is for a time turned against Susana when Barbarina, the gardener’s daughter, tells him about the planned meeting between the count and his bride. It is hear that he recites and enraged speech against unfaithful wives. In the original French play that “The Marriage of Figaro was adapted from, this was a rallying speech against inherited nobility. Susana and the countess are dressed as each other and when Figaro leaves, he just missing running into them. Figaro when he sees his wife assumes that he is speaking not to her but to the count. When Figaro realizes what is afoot he plays along. When the count returns he assumes that Figaro is with his wife. The rage and jealousy that he feels makes him realize what he is doing to others by desiring other’s wives. When he realizes everyone identity he asks for forgiveness and the Opera ends with the day ending, the spats resolved and for the time being everyone content with their own wives.
The nobility and the count are not portrayed in the best light in this play. It is rather the servants who triumph and have their will carried out. The count is presented as a bit of a horny dolt and so it is not difficult to see why there was a mixed reception at the Opera’s debut amongst the nobility, many of which were engaged in similar behavior as the count who is unsuccessful in his advances towards Susana.
“The Marriage of Figaro” as stated has been preformed for over two hundred years. It being one of the great works of operatic art, its interpretation both seeks novelty and radical interpretation and also is bound by the conventions that have developed in the governing of its direction and production. The Madison Opera has put together a guide to govern those directors ambitious enough to take on the direction of the work and lays out certain stylistic, staging, interpretations, and ascetics that are important considerations of the piece.
Obviously one of the most important aspects of any opera production is the casting capable of interpreting Mozart’s original opera score. Figaro requires a bass-baritone while his bride’s music is suited for a soprano. The count is has as a baritone and his wife, as a soprano. Cherubino is often played by a mezzo-soprano, with Dr. Bartolo being a bass. Marcellina requires a mezzo-soprano, and Don Basilo the solo tenor of the production. Babarino is played by a soprano and her father a bass.
One of the most famous and adapted pieces of music of the opera is the overture. This is also often played as a concert piece alone. The piece is “rapid, bubbly, and filled with joie de vie.” Its musical melody “conveys the flavor and fervor of the story to come” (Madision Opera Guide, 2011). For production, there is a lot riding on the performance of this piece of music as it both foreshadows the opera to come and sets the tone for it.
After the overture is “Cinque, dieci, venti” which is a light and loving duet between the betrothed. This contains light and connected melodies which contrasts the next movement “Se vuol ballare, Signor Contino” which is often interpreted in staccato as it reveals in “measured declarations” the counts concocted plan to sleep with Susana is revealed. There is a famous and often quoted line here sung by Figaro in his declaration to foil the counts plan. In the English translation it reads, “If my dear count you feel like dancing, it is I who’ll call the tune.” The guide points to this line as one that made the ruling and political elite very uncomfortable for “A servant plotting again his master was unheard of and quite unacceptable” (Madison Opera Guide, 2011). This is song as a cavatina, which is a short song that does not contain the same passion and drama that an aria has.
The most well known Aria of this act is the ninth movement, “Non piu adrai” or in English “No more.” The music has a military beat as Cherubino has been told that he will be sent to do military service for his displeasing the count. Most directors interpret this to have the characters all exit as if they were walking in a military procession.
Act II begins with a very well known cavatina, which is a sad tune, and the only minor moment of the opera. This is the song of the countess feeling deplorable and praying that she can regain the love from her husband that she once felt.
There is a finale at act to that conforms to the traditions of the time of the opera’s composition. The Madison Guide says that “An 18th century finale was less a finish than a spot for singers to show off and the composer to create a melodious mélange, the plot be damned!” This is frequently done in a very lively fashion.
Vanderbilt University’s 2010 rendition of the opera is a good example of sensible staging and ascetics to the performance. Their staging is simple, but provides all that is needed so that the focus is on the music, lyrics, and actors performance rather than an overly lavish set design. Their staging includes a backdrop that is changed from day to night, with a moon and dark blue indicating the time of day. There are also three doors set in the back and two on either side of the trio of doors. This creates an impression of a room, but they also serve as entrances and closets when they are called for, and also triple as a window for the scene when Cherbino is smuggled out of the window.
The saying that “with great power comes great responsibility” is a good one to apply to the production of Mozart’s famed “The Marriage of Figaro.” There is always a temptation of director’s to put their on personal spin on a piece. This is not to say that this should not be done with this piece, but there is a great responsibility that must accompany this production in living up to the brilliance of Mozart in it’s composition and its long history within the opera tradition.
References:
(2010, May 1). The Marriage of Figaro[Television broadcast]. Youtube: Vanderbilt University .Bakalar, N. (n.d.). What Really Killed Mozart? Maybe Strep - NYTimes.com. The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/health/18mozart.html?_r=0
Bakalar, Nicholas. "What Really Killed Mozart? Maybe Strep - NYTimes.com."The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/health/18mozart.html?_r=0>.
Baumol,, W. J. (1994). On the economics of musical composition in Mozart's Vienna. Journal of Cultural Economics,18(3), pp 171-198.
Berlin, I. (1966). The age of enlightenment; the 18th century philosophers.. New York: New American Library.
Geiringer, Karl; Irene Geiringer (1982). Haydn: A Creative Life in Music (3rd ed. ed.). University of California Press, 403.
History. (n.d.). Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro premieres in Vienna — History.com This Day in History — 5/1/1786. History.com — History Made Every Day — American & World History. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mozarts-le-nozze-di-figaro-premieres-in-vienna
Mozart, W. A., Fisher, B. D., & Ponte, L. (2001). Mozart's The marriage of Figaro. Coral Gables, Fla.: Opera Journeys Pub..
The Marriage of Figaro Guide. (2010, May 6). Madision Opera. Retrieved October 17, 2013, from www.madisonopera.org/uploads/PDFs/Figaro_
