The Marriage of Figaro
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Comic opera in four acts
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte
Count Almaviva Guido Dazzini
Rosina, Countess Almaviva Marta Lazzaro
Susanna, betrothed to Figaro Gesua Gallifoco
Figaro Giovanni Luca Failla
Cherubino Nicolò Balducci
Marcellina Alessandra Adorno
Bartolo / Antonio Gianluca Convertino
Basilio / Don Curzio Lorenzo Martelli
Barbarina, daughter of Antonio Silvia Caliò
ORCHESTRA CITTÀ DI FERRARA
Musical directionLeone Magiera
Conductor Massimo Raccanelli
CHORUS OF THE TEATRO COMUNALE DI FERRARA
Chorus directorTeresa Auletta
Harpsichord master Andrea Ambrosini
Director Adrian Schvarzstein
Assistant director and choreographerJūratė Širvytė-Rukštelė
Costumes Lilli Hartmann
Sets and costumes Lilli Hartmann
Lighting Marco Cazzola
Production
Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Ferrara
The new production of The Marriage of Figaro is staged, directed by Adrian Schvarzstein, with assistant director and choreographer Jūratė Širvytė-Rukštelė, costumes and sets by Lilli Hartmann, and lighting design by Marco Cazzola.
The setting chosen is the impoverished outskirts of Rome in the 1960s. As in Ettore Scola’s masterpiece Ugly, Dirty and Bad, “the characters of this comedy,” explains director Schvarzstein, “mix in a continuous coming and going of events that are the result of social tension, unable to fulfill themselves and wanting to involve others in their failure.” The Spanish-Argentinian director takes up Beaumarchais’s provocations and brings them to the stage: the Mozartian opera thus becomes an opportunity to “smile at conventions, and especially at the different social classes that today, indeed, make no sense.”
Conducting the Orchestra Città di Ferrara is Massimo Raccanelli (currently artistic director of the Filarmonia Veneta), while the chorus is entrusted to Teresa Auletta. Musical director is Leone Magiera, discoverer of talents such as Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni, who continues the “scouting” work he began with Don Giovanni (in which he selected talented under-35s from over 300 young singers from around the world). For The Marriage of Figaro, he has selected and prepared a vocal cast composed of Guido Dazzini (Count), Giovanni Luca Failla (Figaro), Marta Lazzaro (Countess), Gesua Gallifoco (Susanna), Silvia Caliò (Barbarina), Alessandra Adorno (Marcellina), Nicolò Balducci (Cherubino), Gianluca Convertino (Antonio and Bartolo), Lorenzo Martelli (Don Basilio and Don Curzio). From June 12, they will be in Ferrara for a masterclass, conducted by Magiera himself, dedicated to them in preparation for the debut.
EXTRA
LIVE FROM.
MUNICIPAL THEATER OF FERRARA
Considered one of the most beautiful examples of Italian-style theatre, the Municipal Theatre of Ferrara was built between 1773 and 1797, designed by Antonio Foschini and Cosimo Morelli, and inaugurated in 1798 with the opera Gli Orazi e i Curiazi by Marco Portogallo. It is located on Corso Martiri della Libertà, in the historic center just a few meters from the Estense Castle. On March 21, 2014, the theatre was dedicated to the memory of Claudio Abbado, founder of Ferrara Musica and a key figure in the city of Ferrara for 25 years with memorable operas and concerts.
