« You, who know what love is, ladies, see if I have it in my heart. I’ll tell you what I’m feeling: It’s new for me and I understand nothing…» ACT 2, CHERUBINO

A CRAZY DAY
MASKS
MISCHIEF AND BLUNDERS

Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte

Count and Countess Almaviva are in for a day of madness. Figaro, their valet, is to marry the countess’s maid Suzanne. But the count is now persistently trying to exercise his, his right to bed a servant girl on her wedding night. With the help of the countess, who has been droit du seigneur abandoned by her unfaithful husband, and making the most of the clumsiness of Cherubino, a young page who is in love with the countess, Figaro and Susanna foil the Count’s plans. Masks and intrigue help them to definitively put the immoral Almaviva in his place…

A MUST-SEE ANCHORED IN THE PRESENT

Four long years separated Le Nozze di Figaro from the great success of Die Entführung aus dem Serail , putting Mozart centre stage in Vienna as the main rival of the Italian composers of the imperial court. This new commission for an opera buffa adaptation of The Marriage of Figaro came from Emperor Joseph II, who was probably inspired to do this by the court librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. The subject matter was highly sensitive in the pre-revolutionary period, and the opera met with only modest success in Vienna in 1786 compared with the triumphs of Salieri and Paisiello. Mozart then moved to Prague, where he was soon asked to write a new opera, Don Giovanni.

The immense richness of the Nozze makes this an even more unique work and an illustration of Mozart’s genius. The incessant movement between courtyard and garden, the continuous suspense and the intrinsically human characters blend comedy and seriousness in an irresistible way. Mozart’s masterful approach to melodic invention and character development probes hearts and souls. Here he applies his ideal of choosing notes that love one another. The sublime beauty of the music and the levels of precision and depth make Les Nozze di Figaro one of the most important operas in the history of music… an absolute must-see!

• LAST PERFORMED AT THE ORW
  APRIL 2018
• NEW PRODUCTION
  OPÉRA ROYAL DE WALLONIE-LIÈGE
• ECODESIGN
• WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE TAX SHELTER OF THE FEDERAL BELGIAN GOVERMENT AND THE BEL ARTS FUND