Ask me to take your picture and I will move the sun to get the lighting just right.
The German couple in front of us hand me a disposable camera. It’s the kind of camera I used in high school that needs winded. I frame them in the viewfinder *Click* their smiles and outfits like the camera scream 1988. Churlish hair, checkered pants, and jean jackets are framed in front of the Met curtain but will have to wait until they are back in Europe to be developed.
I only know this opera from the movie Amadeus and true to the scene from that movie the first Act is really, really funny. I can still hear Mozart laughing, well Tome Hulce. Susanna and Marcellina insult aria. Fantastic to see Sierra and Bishop go at it here.
During intermission the young couple find me again outside by the fountain and ask if I’ll take another picture. I do and do so happily. I really am delighted when people ask me to take their picture. If I have to climb down a manhole to get the framing just right, rats be damned, I’m pulling up a man cover. I crouch down and take a photo with the Met towering behind them.
The two make me think that at its most basic The Marriage of Figaro is about couples; young couples, veteran couples, and wannabe couples. I wonder what type of couple these two are as they walk off in the direction of Central Park.
I couldn’t be having a better time with Chaltin beside me in these very good orchestra seats. Even better knowing the couple in front of us will not be returning. I have put my sweater on their seat to discourage seat jumpers. The opera continues – – with a wonderfully clear view of the stage.
This is a super fun opera. Gaelle Arquez is full of energy for her debut at the Met
So what is the Marriage of Figaro all about? It begins with the title character about to marry Sussana. He is measuring out the dimensions of their marriage bed (famously illustrated in the movie Amadeus). The Duke however who Susanna works for is plotting to take advantage of his ‘right to sleep with his servant before her wedding night.’ The goal of the duke is complicated however by his wife, a very uninterested Susanna, and the youthful Cherubinno, who is in love with the countess and every other female character in the opera. Another complication are visitors from the opera The Barber of Seville, Barolo and marcellina, with a contract that obliges Figaro to marry someone else named Marcelina. The ensuing comedy is a delight full of mistaken identity, hiding, jumping, and deception. The librettist Da Ponte would have been a great writer for the television show threes company, but I guess he will just have to be remembered for writing the words to some of Mozarts most loved operas, too bad for him.
What to listen for:
Duettino – sull’aria’ Act III, scene 10 It’s the song from Shawshank. It’s funny because just Friday the guys at work were talking about the movie Shawshank redemption, because, well guys of a certain age, will regularly talk about Shawshank redemption.
This is a ‘love is like nature,’ aria and the the lyrics repeat and repeat so this is a great one to close your eyes and just enjoy the sounds and emotion of the orchestra and singers.
Notes on the production
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Composer…………………………….. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Figaro……………………………….……. Luca Pisaroni
Susanna…………………………………. Nadine Sierra
Dr. Bartola……………………….…….. Brindley Sherratt
Marcellina…………………………..….. Elizabeth Bishop
Cherubino…………………………..…. Gaelle Arquez (debut)
Don Basilio…………………………..… Giuseppe Filianoti
Conductor…………………………..…. Antonello Manacorda (debut)
The Metropolitan Opera
11/16/2019