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VERDI
“Per di! … Pietà, rispetto, amore” from
Macbeth
omas Hampson
ROSSINI
“La calunnia è un venticello” from
e Barber of Seville
Luca Pisaroni
BELLINI
“Il rival … Suoni la tromba, e intrepido” from
I puritani
*
omas Hampson, Luca Pisaroni
ARLEN
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from
e Wizard of Oz
Kevin Murphy
PORTER
“I’ve Got You Under My Skin” from
Born to Dance
Luca Pisaroni
PORTER
“Where Is the Life that Late I Led?” from
Kiss Me, Kate
omas Hampson
BERLIN
“Anything You Can Do” from
Annie Get Your Gun
omas Hampson, Luca Pisaroni
WRIGHT
“And
is Is My Beloved” from
Kismet
omas Hampson, Luca Pisaroni
*
First performance at Ravinia
Ravinia expresses its appreciation for the generous support of
Sponsors
Howard L. Gottlieb and Barbara G. Greis
and
Joan Wing and Family, in memory of Jack Wing
.
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–91)
Two selections from
Le nozze di Figaro
(
e Marriage of Figaro
), .
A er ve years in Vienna, Mozart anxiously
sought his rst Italian opera triumph.
e Mar-
riage of Figaro
, the centerpiece of a theatrical
trilogy by French playwright Beaumarchais
focused on the wily servant Figaro, possessed
all the key elements for operatic success. Chris-
tened Pierre Augustin Caron at birth, Beaumar-
chais had grown up the son of a clockmaker in
Paris. His stage works made dangerously satiri-
cal commentary on the social order of pre-Rev-
olutionary France. Beaumarchais o en situated
himself onstage in his own plays.
e name of
his leading character, Figaro, is derived literally
from his own: “ ls Caron” (son of Caron).
e greatest obstacle confronting the opera in-
volved convincing the emperor to li his recent
ban on
Figaro
because of its uncomplimentary
portrayal of the aristocracy. Fortunately, the li-
brettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, who had adapted the
play into Italian, enjoyed high favor at court and
provided assurances that all o ensive scenes had
been removed. e emperor allowed production
of
Figaro
to proceed. Mozart’s innate and multi-
faceted theatrical sensibilities perfectly suited
Le
nozze di Figaro
(
).
e opera’s timelessness
results from the composer’s skillful musical por-
trayal of noble and dishonorable, peasant and
aristocrat, devious and dim-witted characters.
Regardless of social class, the personalities un-
dergo profound transformations over the course
of the drama.
Count Almaviva is an uncontrollable and unre-
pentant womanizer until the end, when even he
(begrudgingly) recognizes the errors of his ways
and reunites with the Countess, a long-su ering
and tender character. His servant Figaro devises
a clever scheme that outwits his master and pre-
serves Susanna’s chastity. Susanna, the opera’s
real heroine, remains true to herself while trying
to please others. Toward the end of Act One, fol-
lowing the scandalous scene in which the Count
and his page, Cherubino, are each discovered in
the Countess’s boudoir hiding from their acts
of indiscretion, the Count enlists Cherubino
in military service in Seville. Figaro praises the
military life (“Non più andrai”).
In Act ree, the great hall of the castle is dec-
orated for a marriage feast. e Count ponders
recent events, considering both his and his wife’s
honor. e Countess orders Susanna to arrange
a meeting with the Count, which she herself will
keep, disguised as the maid. e lustful Count is
more than willing to meet her later that night.
Susanna tells Figaro that their case is won with-
out going to court. Overhearing this discussion,
the Count is outraged at being tricked by mere
servants (“Hai già vinta la causa … Vedrò men-
tre io sospiro”).
ree selections from
Don Giovanni
, .
e second Mozart–Da Ponte operatic collab-
oration couched the Don Juan legend within a
semi-comic setting.
Il dissoluto punito, ossia Il
Don Giovanni
(
e Libertine Punished, or Don
Giovanni
;
) arose from a commission for
the National
eater in Prague, where
Figaro
had triumphed spectacularly.
e successful
Viennese revival of
Figaro
two years later would
prompt the very rapid composition of their
third and nal collaboration,
Così fan tutte, ossia
La scuola degli amanti
(
us Do ey All, or e
School of Lovers
;
), .
. ese three Ital-
ian works account for one of the most celebrat-
ed composer–librettist partnerships in the his-
tory of opera. Consciously or not, this operatic
trilogy tackled three major social issues of the
Enlightenment: classicism and individual deter-
mination, sexual freedom and human relations,
and gender stereotypes and chauvinism.
The so-called Hagenauer portrait of
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 6 – AUGUST 12, 2018
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