Billed as the Downton Abbey of opera but way more fun, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro continues to entertain today as it has done for centuries.
Masters lusting over servants, servants outwitting their masters – Mozart’s comic masterpiece is a hilarious account of a household’s adventures over one crazy summer’s day. Figaro is marrying the servant Susanna, but not before the Count beds her first. Meanwhile Marcellina wants Figaro, and the Countess she just wants her husband back.
In a not-so-subtle dig to the aristocrats Mozart derided, the opera makes a hero of the underclass, especially the servant Susanna. Between the witty, fast-moving libretto and the melodic, charming music, it’s not hard to understand why The Marriage of Figaro is as entertaining today as it was when it debuted in Vienna 1786.
Conducted by brilliant French conductor Guillaume Tourniaire, The Marriage of Figaro is the ultimate ensemble opera, featuring a cast of gifted comic singers including international artists Andrei Bondarenko and Paolo Bordogna alongside Australians Nicole Car and Taryn Fiebig.
“Music by Mozart and libretto by Da Ponte – this is the best you can get in an opera,” says Nicole Car, who is making her Australian debut as the Countess. “Figaro is all about the interplay between the characters, so it’s fun to work with singers you know really well to develop those relationships on stage.”
Dramatically, it’s the opera with everything: lovers and liaisons, disguises and tricks, lust and laughter. Visually, the stunning period costumes and lush set designs are true to their era in every minute detail thanks to Tony Award-winning designer Jenny Tiramani whose long list of credits include Director of Theatre Design at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.
In the second of his three-year Mozart trilogy for Opera Australia, David McVicar is considered the most successful opera director in the world today. After winning widespread acclaim for his Royal Opera House, Convent Garden production of The Marriage of Figaro, this new production for Opera Australia is highly anticipated, and not to be missed.
The Marriage of Figaro
Joan Sutherland Theatre – Sydney Opera House
Season continues to 29 August 2015
Bookings: (02) 9318 8200 or online at: www.opera.org.au
For more information, visit: www.opera.org.au for details.
Image: Paolo Bordogna (Figaro), Anna Dowsley (Cherubino) and Taryn Fiebig (Susanna) in Opera Australia’s The Marriage of Figaro – photo by Prudence Upton