Performed in German with synchronised Russian supertitles
World premiere: 1 May 1786, Burgtheater, Vienna
Premiere of this production: 11 May 2017, Mikhailovsky theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia
Regarded as one of the greatest operas ever written, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) is a screwball comedy complete with disguises, surprises, and compromises. Figaro, the wily barber and part-time matchmaker, has finally fallen in love. But, like everything else in his life, it's complicated. On the eve of Figaro’s marriage to Susanna, his master, Count Almaviva, sets his wandering eye on the lovely bride-to-be. Servant and master go head to head, and even the Countess Rosina gets in on the action when she learns of her husband’s desires. But is she embroiled in a dangerous liaison of her own? From the opening notes to the final curtain, Mozart’s score delivers a tangled love story with great farce and satire.
CREDITS
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte after the play by Pierre Beaumarchais La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro
Musical Director of the production: Mikhail Tatarnikov
Stage Director: Vyacheslav Starodubtsev
Stage Designer: Pyotr Okunev
Costume Designer: Zhanna Usachova
Lighting Designer: Sergey Skornetsky
Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Chorus: Vladimir Stolpovskikh
Video: Vadim Dulenko
Choreography: Artur Oshchepkov
DESCRIPTION
Vyacheslav Starodubtsev’s Mozart. Marriage. Figaro is brimming with oriental motifs, which are reflected too in the acting style. Working on one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s most important operas, the director has taken inspiration from the chinoiserie aesthetic that was so fashionable in European art of the late 18th century.
This is a sophisticated offshoot of rococo style, drawing on the artistic traditions of Medieval China. Porcelain, coloured silks, sliding screens, and elegant tea houses tucked away in the depths of the garden were adopted as part of the European aristocratic lifestyle.
Director Vyacheslav Starodubtsev makes no secret of the fact that visual content is just as critical for an opera director as the music. Along with production designers Zhanna Usacheva and Pyotr Okunev, he has decided to set the opera in a stately home, where oriental fashion not only has a bearing on the interior design, but also on the way of life.