Le Nozze di Figaro

  • 2010/2011 Season
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart : Le Nozze di Figaro
    Opera in 4 Acts
    Sung in Italian with Japanese Supertitles
  • OPERA HOUSE

No discussion of opera would be complete without mention of the wunderkind, Mozart, and his best works. This production premiered in 2003 as the first under new Artistic Director Thomas Novohradsky. The singers were clad in monotone costumes on a pure white stage strewn with cardboard boxes. The concept behind Andreas Homoki's production was the collapse of order, and it focuses on the universal problems of mankind, as opposed to the specific historical relationships within the work as had Mozart. As the drama unfolds, this ahistorical stage space is gradually broken down, the singers lose the costuming that would indicate differences in social status, and a pure humanity stripped of societal conventions is vividly portrayed. This highly polished ensemble production places a strong emphasis on nuanced acting and caused quite a buzz, as the work was recognized as one that not only opera fans but also theater fans could enjoy.

SYNOPSIS

A former barber and now a servant of Count Almaviva, Figaro is going to marry Susanna, a servant of the Countess. Although the Count has already given up the right of the first night (the lord's right to share the first marriage night with his servant's bride in place of the servant), the Count, who fancies Susanna, intends to reclaim the right. The Countess laments that her husband's love for her is cooling. Therefore, the Countess, Figaro and Susanna all conspire to outwit the Count. They use Susanna's clothes to disguise Cherubino, a page at puberty, as a woman and try to lure out the Count···