Mozart's Masterful The Marriage of Figaro opens Tuesday

Mozart’s masterful The Marriage of Figaro opens Tuesday

JESSICA CABE Festival Focus Writer

There’s a reason Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro is one of the most-programmed operas to this day. There are a few reasons, in fact. It could have something to do with the plot (which is hilarious without crossing into cheesy), or perhaps the music (which is some of the most beautiful and memorable in the repertoire), or the characters (who are relatable and progressive even today). In the end, it is surely a combination of all of the above and more, and Aspen audiences will delight to witness the Aspen Opera Center’s production of The Marriage of Figaro at 7 pm on August 13, 15, and 17 at the Wheeler Opera House.

This will be the final opera production of the season, themed “Being American,” and there is a small, little-known connection between this European favorite and the Aspen Music Festival and School’s (AMFS) season theme.

“There is a very, very tangential connection,” says Asadour Santourian, AMFS vice president for artistic administration and artistic advisor. “Lorenzo Da Ponte lived the last 30 years of his life in New York, and he actually ended his life in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was the librettist for this opera, along with two other operas for Mozart.”

This libretto is one of the greats, and one of the reasons the opera has endured as an audience favorite. The Marriage of Figaro is a fast-paced comedy that recounts a single day of scheming in pursuit of love—and lust— in the palace of Count Almaviva. Figaro pursues marriage to his beloved Susanna while the Count has designs on her as well. In the end, the Count learns an important lesson in fidelity, with laughs all along the way.

“The plot is full of twists and turns and small details; however, with the comedy, and the way Mozart wrote, all you have to do is follow his road map,” says soprano Avery Boettcher, who is spending her second summer in Aspen and who sings Countess Almaviva. “Audiences will love the balance between serious emotions and also just complete comic outbursts. It’s never comedy for the sake of being funny, it’s just a reflection of how hilarious life can get. It’s because it’s relatable that it’s so funny.”

Boettcher says one of the reasons she loves this opera so much (she has sung two other parts over the years) is because of how Mozart writes his female characters.

“I love it because it’s relevant subject matter—a woman who’s wronged by her husband and has to decide to keep trying or accept there’s no hope left for her marriage,” she says. “Countess Almaviva is very emotionally strong. I feel Mozart does an amazing job at encapsulating her warmth and strength. The women in this opera have a lot of power, and I admire them. Mozart was so observant and poignant in the way he wrote his women.”

In fact, during the time of the opera’s premiere, the ending (with Count Almaviva on his knees begging the Countess for forgiveness) was quite radical and controversial. Today, it just feels relevant.

Singing her partner is baritone Xiaomeng Zhang, who came to Aspen this summer for the first time specifically to sing the role of Count Almaviva.

“I really wanted to do this role,” he says. “It’s been one of my dream roles for many years. I think it’s a very funny role; he makes people feel that he’s very open, vulnerable, noble, but inside of himself he’s still very ugly.”

Zhang says the chance to sing Mozart is always one a young singer should take, and this was also a consideration when the AMFS programmed The Marriage of Figaro.

“It is an opportunity for young singers to tackle these roles, and that’s one of the main purposes of our opera program, is to give young singers opportunities to sing complete roles,” Santourian says. “There are seven or eight complete roles, which they will encounter as long as they’re in the lyric voice category for the rest of their lyric lives in the professional’s view. This is not a student opera.”

For audiences, and for singers, the most wonderful thing about Figaro may come down to the music—some of the most beloved and memorable that Mozart ever wrote for opera.

“I love the music,” Boettcher says. “To me, there’s no music like it, and I think it’s genius the way Mozart puts it all together.”