GHCD 2203/4/5 Secure E-shop Reviews & Broadcast	Wolfgand Amadeus Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera Paul Breisach conductor 1943 DISC 1 - Track 6 Cavatina (Figaro) DISC III - Track 6 Recitative and Aria (Susanna)

Contents:

ADD   Series Producer: Jonathan Wearn -   Restoration: Richard Caniell, IPRMS, British Columbia, Canada - Series consultant: Keith Hardwick

ACT I.

Figaro and Susanna, servants to the Count and Countess Almaviva are preparing for their marriage when Susanna lets slip that the Count has designs on her. Figaro vows to foil his master’s plans but he, too, has his problems: in this case from the housekeeper, Marcellina, who intends to use an unpaid debt to force Figaro to marry her. She enlists the support of the keen legal mind off Doctor Bartolo, who having himself wanted to marry Susanna, is keen to thwart Figaro’s marriage. After a confrontation between Susanna and Marcellina the flirtatious page-boy Cherubino arrives but has to hide when the Count turns up in Susanna’s room, but then the Count himself has to hide when the singing teacher, Don Basilio, approaches. Basilio’s accusations that Cherubino is in love with the Countess prompts the Count to reveal himself and is enraged to discover Cherubino. Figaro returns with fellow servants, and is left to cheer up young Cherubino after an angry Count has banished him to military duties in Seville.

ACT II.

The Countess is encouraged by Figaro to join in the scheme to expose the Count’s attempts to seduce Susanna. The plan is to dress Cherubino up as Susanna and arrange an assignation with the Count. As Cherubino is being dressed up by Susanna and the Countess he is bundled into a dressing room when the Count arrives. But Cherubino makes a noise which prompts the jealous Count to force open the locked dressing-room door. However while the Count and Countess are temporarily out of the room Susanna releases Cherubino - who jumps out of the window into the garden below – and takes his place in the dressing room. The Count is astonished to find Susanna but when an angry gardener bursts in accusing Figaro (who has turned up to announce his wedding plans) of jumping from the window on to flower pots below, the Count’s suspicions are aroused. The arrival of Marcellina and Bartolo waving a court summons for Figaro, gives the Count an excuse to delay the wedding.

ACT III.

Ecnouraged by the Countess, Susanna arranges a rendezvous with the Count in the garden. But the Count overhears Susanna talking with Figaro and takes his revenge by insisting Figaro marries Marcellina. Figaro protests that he cannot marry without his parents' consent, and as he does not know who they were he needs another 10 years to track them down. From his desxcriptiojn of a distinguishing mark on his right arm Marcellina realises that Figaro is the son of Dr Bartolo and herself and the marriage of Figaro and Susanna can go ahead. During the letter arrangeing the garden rendezvous is passed to the Count who drops the hatpin with which it was sealed. Figaro finds it and hides it in his own sleeve.

ACT IV.

In the moonlit garden, Figaro finds Barbarina searching for the hatpin she was to return from the Count to Susanna as confirmation of their rendezvous, and has lost. Furious with jealousy and unaware that the Countess and Susanna have exchanged cloaks, he hides, only to see Cherubino attempt to kiss the supposed Susanna. The Count arrives just in time to receive the kiss, and his answering slap is received by Figaro as he tries to intervene. The Count takes "Susanna" off to an arbour; Figaro, bent on revenge, pays ardent court to the "Countess", but when he recognises her voice, they continue the charade to tease the Count. He is about to denounce them both, when the real Countess appears and the two women reveal their identities. The Count, contrite, asks his wife's forgiveness, which she grants, and the "mad day" ends in general rejoicing.

First performed in the Opéra-Comique, Paris, on 7^th May 1888, Le Roi d’Ys is based on an ancient Breton legend in which Margared and Rozenn, the two daughters of the King of Ys, vie for the love of the heroic soldier, Mylio. Although it took Lalo almost 10 years to secure a performance of Le Roi d’Ys, it was, in the event, a huge success and is generally regarded as his one true masterpiece. Mylio’s famous Aubade "Vainement, ma bien-aimé!", described in Kobbé as "a tune of delicious fragrance", comes from the third act as Mylio, in accordance with Breton marriage custom, proclaims his right to the hand of the king’s daughter before a party of young girls who are guarding Rozenn’s room.

Faust – Le Roi de Thulé and Jewel Song

Of Gounod’s 12 completed operas only Faust, premièred in Paris on 19^th March 1859, has earned an enduring place in the repertory. Although drawn from Goethe’s epic concerning the legend of Faust the opera libretto, by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, concentrates on the love story between Faust and Marguérite. The chaste ballad of the King of Thulé ("Il était un roi de Thulé") and the dazzling Jewel Song both come from the 3^rd act where Marguérite is found in her garden dreaming of Faust. She sings to herself the simple, folk-song like Roi de Thulé, after which the famous "Jewel Song" makes a striking contrast; it is one of the most demanding of all arias for coloratura soprano, and the two together create one of the most technically and musically exacting passages for high soprano in the whole operatic repertory.

Mefistofele – "L’altra notte in fondo al mare"

The poet-composer Arrigo Boito fashioned the libretto of Mefistofele himself, continuing the story of Goethe’s Faust beyond the love between Faust and Marguérite, and attempting to inject into the plot some of the philosophical content which is at the core of Goethe’s original. In Act 3 of Mefistofele Marguérite is in prison awaiting execution for drowning her baby when Faust comes to comfort her. She relates the occasion on which she drowned her child on the moving aria "L’altra notte in fondo al mare".

Manon – "Ah fuyez, douce image" and "J’ai marqué l’heure du départ"

Manon is regarded by many as the finest of Massenet’s 27 operas. Its libretto, based on a story by the Abbé Prévost, cleverly combines the deeply religious with the unashamedly erotic, and was a huge success at its première in the Opéra-Comique, Paris, on 19^th January 1884. In Act 3 Chevalier Des Grieux is determined to take holy orders but before he can do so he needs to rid his mind of the "sweet image" of the beautiful Manon. His aria "Ah! Fuyez, douce image", at one point rising almost to a frenzy, expresses the deep conflict between his religious calling and his very human desires. Earlier in the opera comes one of the most intense and passionate scenes as Des Grieux, preoccupied with thoughts of his pending journey to meet with his father, suddenly sees Manon and is promptly rooted to the spot by such a glorious "vision". After they have introduced each other, Manon tells des Grieux that she is being packed off to a convent, but by that time their love has become so strong that they instead decide to travel to Paris and get married. is regarded by many as the finest of Massenet’s 27 operas. Its libretto, based on a story by the Abbé Prévost, cleverly combines the deeply religious with the unashamedly erotic, and was a huge success at its première in the Opéra-Comique, Paris, on 19^th January 1884. In Act 3 Chevalier Des Grieux is determined to take holy orders but before he can do so he needs to rid his mind of the "sweet image" of the beautiful Manon. His aria "Ah! Fuyez, douce image", at one point rising almost to a frenzy, expresses the deep conflict between his religious calling and his very human desires. Earlier in the opera comes one of the most intense and passionate scenes as Des Grieux, preoccupied with thoughts of his pending journey to meet with his father, suddenly sees Manon and is promptly rooted to the spot by such a glorious "vision". After they have introduced each other, Manon tells des Grieux that she is being packed off to a convent, but by that time their love has become so strong that they instead decide to travel to Paris and get married.

Page revised 07.02.02