''Figaro Gets a Divorce'' is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

by the Russian-British composer

Elena Langer Elena Langer (born 1974 in Moscow) is a Russian-born British composer of opera and other contemporary classical music. Her work has been performed at the Royal Opera House, Zurich Opera, Carnegie Hall, Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performi ...

to a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

David Pountney Sir David Willoughby Pountney (born 10 September 1947) is a British-Polish theatre and opera director and librettist internationally known for his productions of rarely performed operas and new productions of classic works. He has directed over ...

. It premiered on 21 February 2016 at the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Background

''Figaro Gets a Divorce'' is conceived as a sequel"Figaro Gets a Divorce"
, Welsh National Opera website, accessed 19 March 2015. to

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

's 1786 opera '' Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)'' based on the 1778 play '' La Folle Journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro'', by

Pierre Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French polymath. At various times in his life, he was a watchmaker, inventor, playwright, musician, diplomat, spy, publisher, horticulturist, arms dealer, satirist ...

. This had been created by Beaumarchais as a sequel to his play ''

Le Barbier de Séville ''The Barber of Seville or the Useless Precaution'' (french: Le Barbier de Séville ou la Précaution inutile) is a French play by Pierre Beaumarchais, with original music by Antoine-Laurent Baudron. It was initially conceived as an opéra comi ...

''. The latter was also set as the opera ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was base ...

'' by

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

in 1816 (itself preceded by other versions, including a 1782 setting by

Giovanni Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born in T ...

). Pountney, who in his capacity as Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the Welsh National Opera commissioned the composition, was inspired in his libretto by two different theatrical follow-ups to these two plays, Beaumarchais's own ''

La Mère coupable is an opera in three acts, Op. 412, by Darius Milhaud to a libretto by Madeleine Milhaud after the 1792 play, the third in Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French polymath. At v ...

(The Guilty Mother)'', and

Ödön von Horváth Edmund Josef von Horváth (9 December 1901, Sušak, Rijeka, Austria-Hungary – 1 June 1938, Paris France) was an Austro-Hungarian playwright and novelist who wrote in German, and went by the name of ''nom de guerre'' Ödön von Horváth. He was ...

's 1936 play, ''Figaro läßt sich scheiden (Figaro Gets a Divorce).''WNO Briefing Note – "Figaro Gets a Divorce"
Wales in London website, accessed 19 March 2015 Both of these plays have previous operatic settings, the former by

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

(1966),

Inger Wikström Inger Wikstrom (born 11 December 1939) is a Swedish pianist, composer and conductor. Biography Inger Wikstrom began studying piano in Stockholm at the age of six, and at sixteen played as soloist with the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. She m ...

(''Den brottsliga modern'', 1990), and

Thierry Pécou Thierry Pécou (born 1965 in Boulogne-Billancourt) is a modern French composer. Works *''L'homme armé'' *''Le Tombeau de Marc-Antoine Charpentier'' pour 3 chœurs à voix égales, orgue baroque, basse de viole, positif et cloches (1995) *''A Ci ...

(2010), the latter by

Giselher Klebe Giselher Wolfgang Klebe (28 June 19255 October 2009) was a German composer, and an academic teacher. He composed more than 140 works, among them 14 operas, all based on literary works, eight symphonies, 15 solo concerts, chamber music, piano w ...

(1963). The opera takes the characters into the period of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. The opera was staged in Cardiff in sequence with the Rossini and Mozart operas, using the same set layout and many of the same singers. The set designs were by

Ralph Koltai Ralph Koltai CBE, RDI (31 July 1924 – 15 December 2018), was a German-born, naturalised British stage designer, who worked as associate designer of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and latterly as a sculptor. Early life Koltai was born on 31 ...

and Pountney himself directed all three operas. After Cardiff the work was also seen in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

and

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. Alongside the "febrile and glittery soundscape" Langer created for the Almavivas' flight from revolution, there was also her "jazzier style that added the lighter mood and the element of hope". Langer has said that in the new opera, the character of Cherubino (a sex-obsessed young teenager in the Mozart opera) has become 'sleazier'; the role (which is

travesti Travesti may refer to: * Travesti (gender identity), a transgender identity in South America * Travesti (theatre), a performance while wearing clothes of the opposite sex * "Travesti", a section of Arca's 2020 single "@@@@@" See also

* Tr ...

in Mozart) is to be sung by a

counter-tenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a sp ...

. Pountney has said

It has been a great inspiration to imagine the future lives of these great characters of operatic and theatrical literature, to see how they might be tested by events and, in many cases, emerge as stronger and more admirable people. Of course all three operas should stand on their own, but the audience that is able to experience all three will, I hope, enjoy a truly rewarding operatic journey.

Roles

Synopsis

The Count is fleeing with his household from a revolution in an unspecified country and time. They are captured at the border by the enigmatic Major who seeks to bring them under his power. He informs Angelika and Serafin that they are in fact brother and sister, Angelika being the child of a liaison of the Count. He also knows that Serafin is in fact the result of a one-night stand between the Countess and Cherubino, who is reported killed in battle. The Major hopes to marry Angelika himself, and takes

protection money A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from viol ...

from Figaro when the latter attempts to set up again as a barber. Figaro and Susanna quarrel, as Susanna wants a child and Figaro refuses to consider this in such turbulent times. Susanna encounters Cherubino, now known as 'The Cherub' and proprietor of a sleazy bar; he employs her as a

chanteuse Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman language, Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman conquest of England, Norman Conquest, before ...

. The Countess refuses to be

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

ed by the Major and confesses Serafin's parentage to the Count. Susanna also confesses she is pregnant, with The Cherub as the father. Figaro helps the family to flee the clutches of the Major back to the Count's castle, in the process he shoots The Cherub. The Major, who is a double agent also working for the forces of the Revolution, seeks to trap the others in the castle and arrange for their murder. However Figaro, Susanna, Angelika and Serafin escape through a secret passage, whilst the Count and Countess remain behind to face the music."Figaro Forever" (WNO Programme. Spring 2016), pp. 80-84.

Notes

Sources

* Rosenthal, Harold and John Warrack (1979). ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera'' (2nd edition). London: Oxford University Press. {{Authority control Operas 2016 operas English-language operas Operas set in France Operas by Elena Langer Operas based on plays