Solfaghari Opera Guide for Beginners

The Marriage of Figaro, The Freeshooter, The Ring of the Nibelung
1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-3-95983-603-6
Verlag: tredition GmbH
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 144 Seiten

Opera director Jasmin Solfaghari has written a very special kind of opera guide. Three milestones of the opera literature are explained by the narrator 'LUNA of the moon' in a most skillful way: 'The Marriage of Figaro', 'The Freeshooter', and 'The Ring of the Nibelung'. In the second chapter, LUNA takes the reader backstage and spreads a little light on many secrets of the theater. Finally in chapter three, in order to understand and enjoy the operas more fully, LUNA explains many of the German words from 'The Freeshooter' and 'The Ring of the Nibelung' not always found in a normal dictionary.  The 'Opera Guide for Beginners' is available in hardcover, paperback, or as an e-book. Let yourself be carried off to a world of dragons, weddings, chaos, tears and unbridled passion!

Jasmin Solfaghari wuchs in Teheran und in ihrer Heimatstadt Freiburg auf. Sie studierte Musiktheaterregie bei Götz Friedrich in Hamburg. Es folgten Stationen wie Spielleiterin an der Hamburgischen Staatsoper, Oberspielleiterin am Stadttheater Bremerhaven und Oberspielleiterin an der Deutschen Oper Berlin. Die Regisseurin inszeniert ein sehr umfangreiches Repertoire von Barock bis Moderne im In- und Ausland. Jasmin Solfaghari leitet die Abteilung Oper/Musiktheater bei der PAMY Mediaproductions.Die ehemalige Professorin der Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig ist seit vielen Jahren in der Ausbildung junger Sänger tätig. Ihre mehrsprachigen Vorträge und Meisterkurse führten sie nach Italien, Israel, Brasilien in die USA und nach China. Die Regisseurin ist ebenso im Bereich der Opernvermittlung tätig. Sie kreierte die Erzählerfigur LUNA, mit der sie Figaros toller Tag, Der Ring in 100 Minuten, La Cenerentola und Der Freischütz für Kinder von Wien über Leipzig bis Berlin sehr erfolgreich auf die Bühne brachte.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Solfaghari, Jasmin

Weitere Mitwirkende

Ursula Cemore, Alan Cemore

Cemore, Alan

Leseproben

LUNA lights the way through our story and its background What a long trip … I live hundreds of thousands of miles from you, but I’ve finally made it. Greetings, my name is LUNA and I’m from the moon! You know, actually it’s pretty nice up there. A bit cold. You get a little rusty and inflexible, even lonely, really! Nobody visits me, you can’t even depend on those scientists anymore! NASA only circled the moon a few years ago and then … everybody wants to go to Mars! To keep warm, I’ve gotten used to orbiting the earth every month so that I can see it from all sides. Besides keeping me fit, I’ve made a great discovery on my trip: on earth, you have something that can’t be found anywhere else in the entire universe. Know what I’m talking about? It’s the wonderful world of theater, but most of all – OPERA. I’d like to share something with you, but please keep it to yourself: whenever I feel like seeing an opera, nothing can keep me out there in space. I look for just the right moment when the sun can’t see me and then … off I go. I sneak into your opera houses. I make myself as small as possible, squeeze through any open window I can find, and slide down onto the gallery. From there, I try to find a good view of the whole stage and hope that nobody sees me. LUNA. Freeshooter for Children, Leipzig 2015. The Marriage of Figaro Before the backstage boss – stage manager – finds me, I’ll tell you about The Marriage of Figaro, or, as they say in the original Italian, Le nozze di Figaro. The music was written by the Austrian Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Lorenzo da Ponte from Italy wrote the text after a play entitled The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro, written by the French playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. In order to make the plot a bit clearer, I’ve charted out the family relationships. Who is who? Act I – An empty room, except for an armchair We find ourselves in the palace of Count Almaviva near Seville in sunny southern Spain! The story takes place during the 18th century, when counts still had the last word, and the tumultuous dealings happen all on one single day! That’s why the story is called The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro. So what’s this story about? The Count has a very charming wife, the Countess. But he’s still keen on other women as well. The one I’m talking about now is Susanna, who happens to be his wife’s maid. Susanna also finds her boss rather attractive, but is planning on getting married to the Count’s servant Figaro. But don’t think that’s going to be so easy. Figaro has no idea what his boss has in mind and is busy planning where to put the furniture in their newly assigned room (? Duettino No. 2 Susanna, Figaro Se a caso madama la notte ti chiama). Since Figaro thinks their new room is situated in a very practical place right next to the Count’s, Susanna decides to fill her fiancé in on what’s really going on: 1. The Count is clearly interested in her and wants to spend her “first night” with her: an ancient right which he has previously declared null and void, but desperately wants to reinstate. Counts were allowed to do such things back then. 2. The Count has intentionally put them in the room next to his in order to be closer to Susanna. 3. Her music teacher Basilio is busy playing the matchmaker in order to get Susanna and the Count together. Figaro is furious. He then remembers, that his boss wanted to send him on a trip to London and now finally understands exactly why (? Cavatina No. 3 Figaro Se vuol ballare signor Contino). Can you believe it? Figaro and the Count used to practically be friends. But since Figaro now works for the Count, you can forget about all that. Figaro was the one who helped the Count meet the enchanting future Countess in the first place and even helped steal her away from Doctor Bartolo. But that’s what another opera is all about, The Barber of Seville, set to music thirty years later by Gioacchino Rossini. Ever since then, there have been a few folks who aren’t too happy with Figaro. But there’s also one who wants to marry him. Her name is Marcellina and she is much older than Figaro. She could be his mother. Figaro borrowed money from her, with the stipulation that he would either pay her back or marry her. Unfortunately, it’s even written down in a contract. Figaro hasn’t paid her back yet and today is the deadline. Dr. Bartolo, who still has a bone to pick with Figaro from way back when, wants to help Marcellina marry Figaro today. Then there’s this other guy, a cute kid who’s in love with anything female. His name is Cherubino. He writes poetry and composes music, likes nice clothes, and is head over heels in love with Barbarina, Susanna, and even the elegant Countess. That sometimes gets him into some tricky situations because the jealous Count keeps finding him where he shouldn’t be. And then there’s this unpleasant guy, a scandalmonger, who eavesdrops at every door and whom Susanna has already mentioned, namely her music teacher Basilio. Cherubino, hidden behind a chair, observes the Count making a move on Susanna (? Terzetto No. 7 Susanna, Basilio, Count Cosa sento!). While the Count is describing catching Cherubino hiding everywhere he goes, he discovers him yet again. It’s a delightful scene full of situation comedy. The Count reacts quickly and punishes his Page, Cherubino by ordering him off to the army (? Aria No. 10 Figaro Non più andrai). The Count will use any means possible to postpone Figaro’s and Susanna’s wedding, while the betrothed couple are hatching a plot to try and help the young Page. Act II – Luxurious room with alcoves and three doors Mozart wrote here a very sweet, longing music in which the Countess is remembering a time when her husband still loved her. She would rather die than live without his love. Unjustly, she also suffers from her husband’s jealousy (? Cavatina No. 11 Countess Porgi amor qualche ristoro). Susanna is a great help to the Countess because she stands by her like a friend. Figaro comes in with a sophisticated plan. It consists of two parts: 1. Through Basilio, he will get a note to the Count that the Countess is awaiting a lover. 2. The Count, on the other hand, will get a tip to meet up with Susanna, but Cherubino will be the one dressed up like Susanna. Cherubino is disguised, the doors are locked and the marvelous fun can begin. The Count knocks. Everything must happen quickly: The Page is locked in the dressing room, the Countess hides the key (preferably in her dress), Susanna lounges. The Count is let in and wonders why his wife’s doors were locked. His first thought is: where is my rival? After finding nothing, he decides to take action. To ensure no tricks are played on him, he leaves with his wife and locks her door from outside. No time to waste. Cherubino opens the locked dressing room from inside and jumps frantically out the window. Susanna, worried about the Page, hides in his place in the dressing room. The passionately jealous Count, now armed with hammer and pliers is about to pry open the dressing room doors. The Countess stammers something about a joke and admits that the young Page is hidden there half-naked. The Count flips out. In the middle of a huge fight, he finally flings open the dressing room door and out comes … the cool and collected Susanna. Mozart’s disarming comic sense is at its best here. The Count is stupified, while the Countess doesn’t know what’s up or down. She’ll have to explain it to her husband later. The Marriage of Figaro, Leipzig 2009. Those responsible for the staging and scenic design should take great pains here to make sure that the layout allows the logic behind all of the “hide and seek” to work while still being believable to the audience. What now follows, is one of the most amusing and wild finales1 in all of opera history (? Finale No. 16 Esci ormai garzon malnato!). Everything goes crazy. Everybody is lying and improvising. The gardener totters in with a broken flowerpot of carnations and reveals that the Page jumped out of the window. Figaro confusedly claims that he was the one who jumped out of the window, that his foot suddenly hurts and, with the help of the Countess and Susanna, that the wax seal for Cherubino’s military papers was missing. The scene ends in simply delightful chaos. Act III – Hall with two thrones, richly decorated for a marriage ceremony The Count is alone, thinking about the current confusion in his palace. Whom should he even trust? Everybody says something different. Susanna asks the Count for some medicine for his wife and at the same time, makes a date to meet him later that evening in the palace gardens. As she’s leaving the room, the Count overhears Susanna behind the door saying, “Even without a lawyer, we’ve won our case.” The Count is ticked off (? Recitativo ed Aria No. 18 Count Hai già vinta la causa!/Vedrò mentre io sospiro). The Countess and Susanna, in the...