Out & About December 2017

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treats himself to an early Christmas gift watching Kennet Opera’s performance of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro Jonathan Hopson T hinking about what to write for the December edition of Out and About , I was originally planning to write a piece on shopping in the Newbury area for Christmas gifts with a difference. (see the 12- page guide on p17 for some ideas) “I’d like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can’t be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it.

FIGARO FACTS  The Marriage of Figaro is based on a play by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro , which was first performed in 1784. When Mozart began to consider using the play as the text for an opera, it was actually banned in Vienna because of its scandalous subject matter and seeming disregarrd for moral and sexual restraint. After re-working the text, Mozart and his librettist, da Ponte, managed to obtain permission to produce what would become a highly successful operatic version.  The Marriage of Figaro was popular with both contemporary and future composers. Joseph Haydn wrote to a friend that he heard the opera in his dreams, and in 1790, had a go at producing the work with his own company at Eszterháza. Almost 100 years later, Johannes Brahms said: “In my opinion, each number in Figaro is a miracle; it is totally beyond me how anyone could create anything so perfect; nothing like it was ever done again, not even by Beethoven.”  Figaro’s aria Non più andrai , is one of the most easily recognisable tunes in all of opera. It is often used as a military march and performed at Trooping the Colour. Mozart even used it again himself towards the end of his later opera Don Giovanni , knowing that audiences would recognise it. You can hear a version by the Coldstream Guards here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGhk3dfVB58  Beaumarchais’ play made some political points and, in attacking aristocratic privilege, is often considered to anticipate the French Revolution. In order to make the opera pleasing to the Imperial court, da Ponte took out the play’s most provocative political references, in particular, Figaro’s climactic speech against inherited nobility, which Louis XVI had taken particular objection to. He replaced it instead with an angry aria against unfaithful wives.  Apart from The Shawshank Redemption , Mozart’s music to The Marriage of Figaro has been widely used in film, TV and advertising. In the BBC adaptation of Pride & Prejudice (1995), Elizabeth Bennet sings Cherubino’s aria Voi che sapete . The famous overture is featured in The King’s Speech (2011) and in Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory , when Gene Wilder plays the opening notes to open the factory doors – a tune wrongly identifed by Mrs Teevee as being by Rachmaninov. The extremely familiar overture was even once used in a Pringles ad. Here’s a reminder: www.youtube.com/watch?v=59Rq77OyFSI

“I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away...” Kennet Opera’s production was sung in English rather than Italian, but was extremely enjoyable nonetheless. Although the auditorium at Arlington Arts is capable of seating up to 250 people, many of the seats are close to the stage, creating an intimate experience, where the audience can feel more directly connected to the action taking place. Benjamin Hamilton conducted the orchestral ensemble of nine players with considerable panache and Sally Beech on bassoon gave a particularly virtuosic performance. In summary, a memorable performance of The Marriage of Figaro and here’s hoping Kennet Opera return in 2018 with an equally high quality production. Now on with the celebrations and a merry Christmas to you all...

However, having recently attended Kennet Opera’s production of The Marriage of Figaro at the Arlington Arts Centre at Mary Hare School, I felt compelled to share this wonderful performance of Mozart’s comic operatic masterpiece with a wider audience. The singing from the cast of characters was beautiful throughout, with Figaro, (Shaun Aquilina) and Susanna (Camilla Foster- Mitchell) particularly mellifluous. The production was set in the early 20th century and stage sets from previous Kennet Opera productions were cleverly re-used, with minimal changes between each of the four acts, setting the scene for the different locations – Figaro and Susannah’s bedroom, the Countess’ dressing room, a hall for the marriage ceremony and finally a garden setting for the musical climax to the opera where the Count, on bended knee, seeks forgiveness from the Countess – Contessa perdono , arguably one of Mozart’s finest duets. A popular highlight of the opera is the duet in Act III between Susanna and the Countess, Sull’Aria . This is featured in the famous opera scene from the film Shawshank Redemption , where, against the wishes of the prison warden, Tim Robbins’ character Andy Dufresne plays a recording of the duet over the public address system. www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzuM2XTnpSA Hearing the sublime music, Morgan Freeman’s character, Ellis ‘Red’ Redding, is moved to say:- “I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don’t want to know. Some things are best left unsaid.

To find out more about Kennet Opera visit www.kennetopera.co.uk

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