All Things Figaro

Figaro FOMO (or the Fear of Missing Out... on your favorite operas) got you down? Don't worry, we have the cure. 

We compiled all of our favorite blogs, podcasts, and photos of The Marriage of Figaro and put them all in one place: right here. All you have to do is scroll down.

PODCASTS

Join LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director James Conlon as he delves into the history of French playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, his beloved character Figaro, and the renowned operas that sprang from his plays (The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro and The Guilty Mother). 

In this first episode of a three-part series, join Maestro Conlon as he explores class struggle and the battle of the sexes that plays out in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. 

You can listen in to the first below, and catch the second episode here and the third episode here. 

Blog Posts

Looking for Maestro Conlon's program note? Look no further. Read the intro below and click here for the full thing. 

“Come lo sono i moderni mariti: per sistema infideli, per genio capricciosi e per orgoglio, poi tutti gelosi.” (“That’s the way it is with modern husbands: unfaithful on principle, capricious by nature and out of pride, jealous.”) 

So speaks Rosina (now the Countess) about her husband Count Almaviva (a name that means “Lively Soul”). 

The Marriage of Figaro, the second play (1784) in the Figaro trilogy by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, and its operatic adaptation (1786) by composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, stand as two masterworks of their respective genres. They can be analyzed from a host of perspectives, none of which can fully plumb their depths. I propose, in this article, to look at these works from the perspective of class struggle (master against servant, aristocracy versus the serving class), pertinent to the Age of Enlightenment, and the battle of the sexes, germane to all times and ages. The first holds that there is an inevitable tension between rulers and the ruled, and the second that the confrontational magnetism between the sexes drives the species, society and personal relations forward and, at the same time, holds them in an unending gridlock for dominance. 

Bonus: 

Check out Maestro Conlon's notes on The Barber of Seville and The Ghosts of Versailles to complete the "Figaro Trilogy." 

Gallery

We know there's no substitute for a live performance, but at least we have some great photos from the production's travels. Check out the gallery below to take in the show's beauty and join us in fantasizing about it being staged at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion sometime soon.

Even though we weren't able to have The Marriage of Figaro on our stage this season, there's always a silver lining.

We're kicking off our "From the Vault: Figaro Trilogy" with Rossini's The Barber of Seville through LAO At Home this week. This audio-only stream was recorded in performance on our stage in 2015, and streams of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles will follow in the coming weeks.

Tune in here this Thursday at 5:00 PM PDT to listen in on the show.