Conductor Joana Mallwitz makes her Met debut leading two extraordinary casts in Mozart’s comic masterpiece.
Bass-baritones Michael Sumuel and Luca Pisaroni star as the clever valet Figaro, opposite sopranos Olga Kulchynska and Rosa Feola as his betrothed, the wily maid Susanna. Baritone Joshua Hopkins and bass-baritone Adam Plachetka alternate as the philandering Count, sopranos Federica Lombardi and Jacquelyn Stucker (in her Met debut) trade off as his anguished wife, and mezzo-sopranos Sun-Ly Pierce and Emily D’Angelo share the role of the adolescent page Cherubino.
World premiere: Burgtheater, Vienna, 1786.
A profoundly humane comedy, Le Nozze di Figaro is a remarkable marriage of Mozart’s music at the height of his genius and one of the best librettos ever set. In adapting a play that caused a scandal with its revolutionary take on 18th-century society, librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte focused less on the original topical references and more on the timeless issues embedded in the frothy drawing-room comedy.
CAST & CREW
Production
Set and Costume Designer
Richard Eyre
Lighting Designer
Paule Constable
Revival Stage Director
Jonathon Loy
Rob Howell Choreographer
Sara Erde
Revival Stage Director
Jonathon Loy
C. Graham Berwind, III Chorus Director
Tilman Michael
CREATORS
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91) was the son of a Salzburg court musician who exhibited him as a musical prodigy throughout Europe. His achievements in opera, in terms of beauty, vocal challenge, and dramatic insight, remain unsurpassed. Librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749–1838), who led an adventurous life in Venice and Vienna, also collaborated with Mozart on Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. He later emigrated to America, where he became the first professor of Italian at New York’s Columbia College (now University).
SETTING
Seville, the setting of Le Nozze di Figaro and its prequel, The Barber of Seville, was famous in Mozart’s time as a place filled with hot-blooded young men and exotically beautiful women sequestered behind latticed windows, or “jalousies” (which gave us our English word “jealousy”). The city was the birthplace of the Don legends, which Mozart and Da Ponte would mine for their subsequent masterpiece, Don Giovanni. The current Met production of Le Nozze di Figaro places the action in the 1930s.
MUSIC
Le Nozze di Figaro’s amazing score mirrors the complex world it depicts. The first impression is one of tremendous beauty and elegance. Dig a little deeper, and you’ll find all the underlying pain and deception, with a constant tension between the social classes and the sexes, where each character has something to gain and something to hide. Standout solo numbers include the Countess’s two arias, Cherubino’s “Voi, che sapete,” Susanna’s “Deh, vieni, non tardar,” and Figaro’s arias, the angry Act IV diatribe against womankind, “Aprite un po’ quegli occhi,” and Act I’s “Non più andrai,” in which not even the most buoyant and memorable melody in the world can quite hide the character’s sarcasm.
Synopsis
Act I
A manor house near Seville, the 1930s. In a storeroom that they have been allocated, Figaro and Susanna, servants to the Count and Countess Almaviva, are preparing for their wedding. Figaro is furious when he learns from his bride that the Count has tried to seduce her. He’s determined to have revenge on his master. Dr. Bartolo appears with Almaviva’s housekeeper, Marcellina, who is equally determined to marry Figaro. She has a contract: Figaro must marry her or repay the money that he borrowed from her. When Marcellina runs into Susanna, the two rivals exchange insults. Susanna returns to her room, and the Count’s young page Cherubino rushes in. Finding Susanna alone, he speaks of his love for all the women in the house, particularly the Countess. When the Count appears, again trying to seduce Susanna, Cherubino hides, but when Don Basilio, the music teacher, approaches, the Count conceals himself. Basilio tells Susanna that everyone knows that Cherubino has a crush on the Countess. Outraged, the Count steps forward, but he becomes even more enraged when he discovers Cherubino and realizes that the boy has overheard his attempts to seduce Susanna. He chases Cherubino into the great hall, encountering Figaro, who has assembled the entire household to sing the praises of their master. Put on the spot, the Count is forced to bless the marriage of Figaro and Susanna, but he cleverly demurs, explaining that he wants to celebrate their wedding with greater ceremony. He resolves to seek out Marcellina and orders Cherubino to join the army without delay. Figaro sarcastically sends the boy off into battle.
Act II
In her bedroom, the Countess mourns the loss of love in her life. Encouraged by Figaro and Susanna, she agrees to set a trap for her husband: They will send Cherubino, disguised as Susanna, to a rendezvous with the Count that night. At the same time, Figaro will send the Count an anonymous note suggesting that the Countess is having an assignation with another man.
Cherubino arrives, and the two women lock the door before dressing him in women’s clothes. As Susanna steps into an adjoining room, the Count knocks and is annoyed to find the door locked. Cherubino hides himself in the dressing room, and the Countess lets in her husband. When there’s a sudden noise from behind the door, the Count is skeptical of his wife’s story that Susanna is in there. Taking his wife with him, he leaves to get tools to force the door. Meanwhile, Susanna, who has reentered the room unseen, encourages Cherubino to come out of hiding. With all the doors locked, the boy escapes out the window, and Susanna takes his place in the dressing room. When the Count and Countess return, both are astonished when Susanna emerges. Figaro arrives to begin the wedding festivities, but the Count questions him about the note that he received. Figaro successfully eludes questioning until the gardener, Antonio, bursts in, complaining that someone has jumped from the window. Figaro improvises quickly, feigning a limp and pretending that it was he who jumped. Bartolo, Marcellina, and Basilio appear, holding the contract that obliges Figaro to marry Marcellina. Delighted, the Count agrees to judge the case, leaving Susanna and Figaro’s wedding in peril.
Intermission
Act III
Later that day in the great hall, Susanna leads on the Count with promises of a rendezvous that night. He is overjoyed but then overhears Susanna conspiring with Figaro. In a rage, he declares that he will have revenge. The Countess, alone, recalls her past happiness. The Count has decreed that Figaro must pay his debt to Marcellina or marry her at once. Figaro replies that he can’t marry without the consent of his parents for whom he’s been searching for years. When he reveals a birthmark on his arm, Marcellina realizes that he is her long-lost son, fathered by Bartolo. Arriving to see Figaro and Marcellina embracing, Susanna thinks that her fiancé has betrayed her, but she is pacified when she learns the truth. The Countess is determined to go through with the conspiracy against her husband, and she and Susanna compose a letter to him confirming the meeting with Susanna that evening in the garden. Cherubino, now disguised as a girl, appears with Antonio’s
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SUNDAY JUNE 25th 3:00 PM
SATURDAY JULY 26th 7:30 PM
A PLAY BY YASMINA REZA
Directed by: AC Silver
Starring: William McCormick
Jamie Keithline
Produced by: Scott Campbell & Scrappy Lady Productions
Stage Managed by: Tracy Summerville
Set by: Rick & Dawn Vroom
AUGUST 8 &9 TH TH @7:30PM AUGUST 10TH
STAGE TO SCREEN
SUNDAY AUGUST 24 3:00 PM th.
SUNDAY, NOV 16TH SUNDAY, NOV 16TH
3:00 PM3:00 PM
KING’STHEATRE
Built in 1921, King’s Theatre has been at the heart of Annapolis Royal’s cultural community for 100 years. It is a favoured venue for performers, known for its enthusiastic audiences, intimate setting, high quality production values, and warm reception from the community.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Tracy Summerville, Chair
Margo Tait, Vice Chair
Kerrie Picken, Treasurer
Shannon Kelly, Secretary
Betsy Akin
Thea Boyanowsky
Caroline Hancock
Garth Laidlaw
Thomas May
AC Silver
Alison Warwick
Michael Westcott
STAFF
Janet Larkman, Executive Director
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Devin Fraser, Technical Director
Jamie Alcorn, Sound Technican
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