Professor Kozol Mozart s Marriage of Figaro Thursday February 27 2014 7 04 PM Song where Susanna and her Countess write a letter They are planning to switch places and thus must be equals Harmonies dissolve the class structure Napolean called The Marriage of Figaro the revolution already in action The controversial scenes were taken from the literal dialogue and expressed through the music Figaro s political monologue Act 5 Scene 3 De Ponte combined Acts 3 and 4 Trial scene with mockery of court system Mozart s insertion of social critiques Musical forms associated with upper class are usurped by lower class characters Immediately recognizable to Viennese and opera goers Servant hero and heroine portrayed with great intelligence depth and range of emotion Rousseau Inspiration Figaro is said to be the 1st operatic everyman Not common for peasants servants comic characters to be as serious as nobles but Figaro is serious Se voul ballare If you want to dance little count I ll play my little guitar Contino diminutive of Count Susanna discovered in closet has upper hand Shows her power in small minuet Raise your hand in anger and kill the vulgar boy you see before you Class differences in class and gender Beaumarchais removed Marceline s speech before the opening night thinking France wasn t ready for a sexual revolution yet The Countess Arias Porgi amor Dove son Depict wide range of emotions 2 Faces of Bad Male Behavior Count Almaviva Serious disturbing womanizer Cherubino Humorous more charicature than human but well portrayed developing adolescent emotions Neither child nor adult no defined adolescence yet but determined immaturity His song to the Countess is the only true song in the opera portray giddy excitement Act 4 Figaro sings aria Recitativo Secco dry recitative Featuring sparse accompaniment Recitativo Instrumentato Accompagrato backed by full orchestra and reserved for nobility Cuckolds portrayed wearing horns Mozart PUNS IT UP with French horns in Figaro s aria Susanna also has an accompanied recitative Shows that It s simple to become another person from another class Class system is arbitrary C E Humanities Page 1