Figaro Gets a Divorce
Figaro Gets a Divorce is an opera by the Russian-British composer Elena Langer to a libretto by David Pountney. It premiered on 21 February 2016 at the Welsh National Opera at Cardiff.[1]
Background
Figaro Gets a Divorce is conceived as a sequel
The opera was staged in Cardiff in sequence with the Rossini and Mozart operas, using the same set layout and many of the same singers. The set designs were by Ralph Koltai and Pountney himself directed all three operas.[3] After Cardiff the work was also seen in Birmingham, Llandudno, Bristol, Southampton, Milton Keynes and Plymouth.[5] Alongside the "febrile and glittery soundscape" Langer created for the Almavivas' flight from revolution, there was also her "jazzier style that added the lighter mood and the element of hope".[6]
Langer has said that in the new opera, the character of Cherubino (a sex-obsessed young teenager in the Mozart opera) has become 'sleazier'; the role (which is
It has been a great inspiration to imagine the future lives of these great characters of operatic and theatrical literature, to see how they might be tested by events and, in many cases, emerge as stronger and more admirable people. Of course all three operas should stand on their own, but the audience that is able to experience all three will, I hope, enjoy a truly rewarding operatic journey.[3]
Roles
Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 21 February 2016 (Conductor: Justin Brown) |
---|---|---|
Count | baritone | Mark Stone |
Countess | soprano | Elizabeth Watts |
Susanna | soprano | Marie Arnet |
Figaro | baritone | David Stout |
The Cherub | counter-tenor |
Andrew Watts |
Angelika, ward of the Count | soprano | Rhian Lois |
Serafin, son of the Countess (travesti role) | mezzo-soprano | Naomi O'Connell |
The Major | tenor | Alan Oke |
Synopsis
The Count is fleeing with his household from a revolution in an unspecified country and time. They are captured at the border by the enigmatic Major who seeks to bring them under his power. He informs Angelika and Serafin that they are in fact brother and sister, Angelika being the child of a liaison of the Count. He also knows that Serafin is in fact the result of a one-night stand between the Countess and Cherubino, who is reported killed in battle. The Major hopes to marry Angelika himself, and takes
Notes
- ^ a b "Figaro Gets a Divorce" Archived 15 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Welsh National Opera website, accessed 19 March 2015.
- ^ Rosenthal and Warrack (1979), p. 356
- ^ a b c WNO Briefing Note – "Figaro Gets a Divorce", Wales in London website, accessed 19 March 2015
- OCLC 871517153.
- ^ Opera calendar home. Opera, Vol 67 No 3, March 2016, p380.
- ^ Evans, Rian. Review of The Barber of Seville, The marriage of Figaro and Figaro Gets a Divorce. Opera, Vol 67 No 4, April 2016, p496.
- ^ Keith Clarke, "Welsh National Opera launches 70th anniversary season including Sweeney Todd" Archived 27 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine in Classical Music website, 6 October 2014, accessed 19 March 2015.
- ^ "Figaro Forever" (WNO Programme. Spring 2016), pp. 80-84.
Sources
- Rosenthal, Harold and John Warrack (1979). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera (2nd edition). London: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-311318-X