THE Marriage of figaro
2021/22 Season
May 20, 2022 | 7:30 pm
May 22, 2022 | 2 pm
Performances in Copeland Hall at The Grand (818 N. Market St., Wilmington, DE)
Tickets: Starting at $29
Box Office: 302-442-7807
Estimated run time: 3 hours with one intermission
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Your health and safety is our priority. At this time, masks are required inside the venue. Please monitor your email and operade.org/safety for current safety protocols as our season progresses.
Cue the wedding bells: the Barber of Seville is getting hitched! It’s Figaro and Susanna’s wedding day, but their boss, Count Almaviva, has his wandering eye fixed on the bride-to-be. When Figaro discovers the Count’s plan to revive a feudal law allowing him to bed the bride, the barber is furious.
With the help of a few friends (including the Countess), the lovebirds devise a cheeky game of cat and mouse to outwit Almaviva and thwart his lascivious intentions. Will the couple get their happily-ever-after? Anything’s possible with wily Figaro pulling the strings! Packed with sublime arias and hilarious, topsy-turvy twists, Mozart's effervescent masterpiece will sweep you off your feet.
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte
Conducted by Anthony Barrese
Directed by Dean Anthony
Featuring the OperaDelaware Orchestra & Chorus
Performed in Italian with English supertitles
CAST
Efraín Solís | Figaro
Robin Steitz | Susanna
Sean Anderson | Count Almaviva
Toni Marie Palmertree | Countess Almaviva
Lauren Cook | Cherubino
Claudia Chapa | Marcellina
Timothy Madden | Bartolo
Peter Joshua Burroughs | Don Basilio / Don Curzio
Hannah Von Riesen | Barbarina
GALLERY
Photos by Joe del Tufo & Jim Coarse / Moonloop Photography
ABOUT:
COMPOSER Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Widely considered to be a perfect comic opera, Le nozze di Figaro is full of back-to-back hits, from the bubbly overture and Act I’s “Non piú andrai”, to Act III captivating duet, “Canzonetta sull’aria” (featured in this memorable scene from The Shawshank Redemption).
The opera was Mozart’s first collaboration with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte (the two teamed up again for Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni), and is the second installment of the Figaro trilogy).
Mozart’s masterpiece almost didn’t make it to the stage. The play upon which it’s based, Pierre Beaumarchais’s La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro (The Mad Day or The Marriage of Figaro — the second of the trilogy based on the character of Figaro), was banned in most of Europe for its “revolutionary”, anti-aristocrat overtones. Da Ponte removed the much of the controversial material, and Emperor Joseph II allowed the opera to premiere at Vienna’s Burgtheater in 1786.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our free Zoom lecture on May 12 with Dr. Aaron Ziegel, Associate Professor and Division Leader of Music History and Culture at Towson University. Whether you are encountering The Marriage of Figaro for the first time or revisiting it yet again, this engaging talk will give you a new appreciation for Mozart’s beloved comedy.
Missed the live lecture? Watch the recordings posted below. Ticket-holders will also be emailed the videos prior to our May 20 & 22 performances.
This organization is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com.
