tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5630356600537382212.post7666209016164068654..comments2024-03-26T04:25:27.186-07:00Comments on Seattle Opera Blog: FIGARO’S Fathers & Films: AMADEUSSeattle Operahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04003665787231048819noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5630356600537382212.post-46014949999795895732009-04-18T20:20:00.000-07:002009-04-18T20:20:00.000-07:00I don't know if it's the "perfect" opera either. ...I don't know if it's the "perfect" opera either. But I know that it's one of my two most favorite.Teresa Verdenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5630356600537382212.post-61931950616297862972009-04-10T14:55:00.000-07:002009-04-10T14:55:00.000-07:00Thanks for reading, and for your great questions. ...Thanks for reading, and for your great questions. <BR/><BR/>1. That's an interesting point, but tenor-as-hero is a nineteenth-century phenomenon. Mozart uses protagonist tenors in his other Da Ponte comedies (Ferrando and Ottavio), but in both cases the tenor voice indicates a dreamy, romantic soul, and neither Figaro nor the Count would qualify. In serious Italian opera of the time, the hero might very well still have been a castrato. (Belmonte, Pedrillo, Tamino, and Monostatos are all tenors, but in German singspiel at the time that just meant they were young and full of fire. <BR/><BR/>2. Yes, and more revisions for a Vienna remount in 1789; but the important question of 'version' of Figaro today is really "How much are you cutting?" Truckloads of recitative are often cut, and very few opera companies present the opera complete with the Act 4 arias for Marcellina and Basilio. They're nice arias, and if you have strong singers it's good to showcase them; but it's usually very late at night by that point, and the audience wants the story to keep moving!<BR/><BR/>3. Evidence is scanty, but we think it was not commissioned. We also assume that Mozart and Da Ponte got along very well, BECAUSE THERE'S NO EVIDENCE OF ANYTHING!!! No letters, no memoirs (except Da Ponte's notoriously untrustworthy ones), nothing. Presumably they spent so much time together in person, working on their operas, cracking each other up over a bottle of wine, they didn't feel the need to communicate in any form that would survive. <BR/><BR/>4. Is FIGARO the 'perfect' opera? I'll leave that up to you readers to debate!Jonathan Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11655629660579464336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5630356600537382212.post-56054648569635367022009-04-10T13:59:00.000-07:002009-04-10T13:59:00.000-07:00Hi Guys: I have some questions:In Figaro the lead ...Hi Guys: I have some questions:<BR/><BR/>In Figaro the lead male singers are a bass and a baritone ... and the tenors only get the most minor male roles. This seems to be contrary to what most people expect in an opera - is there a reason for this choice?<BR/><BR/>Is there a "standard" version of the opera: I know Mozart re-wrote parts of the opera for the Prague performances: is this version used of is it the Vienna version - or is there another version?<BR/><BR/>How did the opera come about - was it commissioned? How did Mozart and da Ponte collaborate - did they get on? In know there are cases where the composer than librettist couldn't stand each other. <BR/><BR/>Why is Figaro considered to be the "perfect" opera - I don't disagree with this sentiment but I would like to know if it truely deserves this title.Jonathan Caveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13151822597886217577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5630356600537382212.post-43900382286058946642009-04-10T11:40:00.000-07:002009-04-10T11:40:00.000-07:00What a wonderful blog! Please keep it going.What a wonderful blog! Please keep it going.Alice Blochnoreply@blogger.com