Rating : - Love, Reconciliation, and the Human Comedy
Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro" has its basis in the old comedia d'arte and in opera buffa. In Figaro, Mozart combined these comic, playful elements with themes of seriousness, as his music explored human frailty, character, love, and forgiveness.

The "Marriage of Figaro" was Mozart's first operatic collaboration with the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, and it was followed by "Don Giovanni" and "Cosi Fan Tutte". Mozart himself asked Da Ponte to write the libretto for the famous play by Beaumarchais. The play itself had just barely passed the censors, and Da Ponte's libretto softened slightly the attack on aristocratic privilege in the play. The opera was first performed in May, 1784 in Vienna where Mozart conducted it with modest success. Soon therafter, it achieved much greater success in Prague.In his introductory remarks to the libretto, Da Ponte spoke of his and Mozart's efforts to "paint faithfully and in full color the divers passions that are aroused" by the story.

The opera is in four act and set at a castle in Seville, Spain. The action of the work all occurs within "one mad day" As befitting a comedy, there are many madcap moments, and somewhat stereotypical moments in the opera (people jumping out of windows to avoid a suspicious husband) and the goings-on are difficult to follow at times. But the thrust of the story is clear. The story involves the love and impending marriage of Figaro, a servant of Count Almaviva, to Susanna, a servant of his wife, the Countess. Although the Count has forsworn the medieval droit de seigneur, he still has designs on Susanna. The Countess, meanwhile, has long been dispirited that her husband's ardour and love for her has cooled. Figaro's marriage is threatened by an older woman named Marcellina who has lent him money and who wants herself to marry him. The Count offers Susanna money for her dowry in exchange for the favors he gave up in abolishing the droit de seigneur. Eventually, it develops that Marcellina is Figaro's mother. Over a long and convoluted plot, the Countess, Figaro, and Susanna find a way to foil the Count's plans. As the opera comes to its close, the Count, seeking to have his way with Susanna, thinks he has found the Countess compromising herself with Figaro and threatens to act without mercy. When he learns differently, he abrubtly changes course and begs the Countess's forgiveness, which she freely grants. The opera concludes with a triumphal march and chorus.

In a series of solo arias, duets, trios, sextets, and large ensemble numbers, Mozart's music explores love in all its forms. An important character not mentioned above is the adolescent boy Cherubino, who is attracted to every pretty woman he sees and who sings two arias full of youthful passion early in the opera. Mozart explores the yearning of the Countess and her determination to win back her straying husband. Susanna's heart and desire for physical intimacy with Figaro are on display from the outset of the work. The Count is a snarling, arrogant aristocrat, but he comes to beg forgiveness and, perhaps, to mend his ways at the end. Figaro is hot-headed, and scheming and not a little jealous of Susanna. The other minor characters, including Marcellina and her husband to be Bartolo, (the father of Figaro in a long ago affair) and the young girl Barbarina, in love with Cherubino and another victim of the Count's advances, also have important moments in the opera. Although it is difficult to point to a few aspects of Mozart's music, the large ensembles at the end of Acts II and IV, the sextet in Act III and the choral ensembles are frequently viewed as the highpoints of Figaro. Many CDs featuring "highlights" of the opera focus on the solo arias.

This classic recording of "The Marriage of Figaro" dates from 1968 with Karl Bohm conducting the Chorus and Orchestra of the Deutschen Oper Berlin. The cast includes Fischer-Dieskau as the Count, Herman Prey as Figaro, Edith Mathis as Sussana, Gundula Janowitz as the Countess, and Tatiana Troyanos as Cherubino. Bohm conducts in a carefully crafted performance, somewhat more deliberate than other recordings, which emphasizes the serious part of the story. The women in this recording are uniformly excellent. There are listeners who are less than enamored with Fischer-Dieskau's acting as the Count, but I found his performance suited to the role. As is apparent from the many thoughtful reviews of this recording, "The Marriage of Figaro" is difficult to capture in its entirety in a single performance. But this remains an outstanding performance. Listeners coming to "The Marriage of Figaro" for the first or the tenth time will not go wrong with it.

As happens so often in life, this recording came to me more than I came to it. I have heard Figaro live several times and I own a selection of highlights. But for years, I did not have a complete version of the opera. Recently, our local public library had somewhow received several copies of this CD from the manufacturer and was selling the surplus copies at a ridiculously low price.($4.00) I couldn't pass it up. Thus, it is more or less due to happenstance that I have this version of Figaro.

It is unlikely that anyone considering buying this opera will have my stroke of good luck. On the other hand, there is no need for anyone to wait as long as I did in getting to know and love this music in a classic recording. Although it is not the only choice, this CD is a wonderful way to explore Mozart's playful, humanly wise, and transcendent music to "The Marriage of Figaro".

Robin Friedman