''The Marriage of Figaro'' (german: Figaros Hochzeit) is a 1949 East German

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

directed by

Georg Wildhagen Georg Wildhagen (15 September 1920 – 2 December 1990)Walter Habel (ed.): ''Wildhagen, Georg'', in: '' Wer ist wer? Das deutsche Who’s Who'', vol. 15, Berlin: Arani-Verlag, 1967, p. 2178 u.ö.previewat Google Books was a German screenwriter and ...

and starring

Angelika Hauff Angelika Hauff (1922–1983) was an Austrian stage and film actress. She worked prolifically as a film actress in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War appearing in the lead roles in several successful films that included '' The Marria ...

Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender (19 February 1897, Aachen – 13 February 1978, Nuremberg) was a German operatic baritone, particularly associated with Mozart and Verdi roles. He is considered to have been one of the best lyric baritones of the int ...

and

Sabine Peters Sabine Peters (29 December 1912 – 10 October 1982) was a German film actress. Peters emerged as a film actress during the Nazi era, and played largely supporting roles. She was one of the companions of the title in the 1938 Ingrid Bergman vehi ...

. It was based on the opera ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'' by

Wolfgang Amadeus 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. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

and

Lorenzo Da Ponte Lorenzo Da Ponte (; 10 March 174917 August 1838) was an Italian, later American, opera librettist, poet and Roman Catholic priest. He wrote the libretti for 28 operas by 11 composers, including three of Mozart's most celebrated operas: ''The Marr ...

, which was itself based on the play ''

'' 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 ...

. The film was made by

DEFA DEFA (''Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft'') was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) throughout the country's existence. Since 2019, DEFA's film heritage has been made accessible and licensable on the PRO ...

, the state production company of

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, in their

Babelsberg Studio Babelsberg Film Studio (german: Filmstudio Babelsberg), located in Potsdam-Babelsberg outside Berlin, Germany, is the second oldest large-scale film studio in the world only preceded by the Danish Nordisk Film (est. 1906), producing films since ...

and the nearby

Babelsberg Park Babelsberg Park (german: Park Babelsberg) is a 114 hectare park in the northeast of the city of Potsdam, bordering on the ''Tiefen See'' lake on the River Havel. The park was first designed by the landscape artist Peter Joseph Lenné and, af ...

. It sold 5,479,427 tickets. The production used not the original Italian but a German text. The

recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name "''recitativo''" ()) is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repea ...

s were replaced with dialogue spoken by the actors. Except for

as Figaro and Mathieu Ahlersmeyer as Count Almaviva, the singing parts were supplied by opera singers.''Figaros Hochzeit''
''Lexikon des internationalen Films'', Zweitausendeins During Figaro's aria "

Non più andrai "Non più andrai" (You shall go no more) is an aria for bass from Mozart's 1786 opera ''The Marriage of Figaro'', K. 492. The Italian libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, '' La folle journée, ...

" (In German: "Nun vergiss leises Flehn"), a battle scene from

Veit Harlan Veit Harlan (22 September 1899 – 13 April 1964) was a German film director and actor. Harlan reached the highpoint of his career as a director in the Nazi era; most notably his antisemitic film ''Jud Süß'' (1940) makes him controversial ...

's 1942 film ''

The Great King ''The Great King'' (german: Der große König) is a 1942 German drama film directed by Veit Harlan and starring Otto Gebühr. It depicts the life of Frederick the Great, who ruled Prussia from 1740 to 1786. It received the rare "Film of the N ...

'' is shown.

Cast

as Susanna, sung by

Erna Berger Erna Berger (19 October 1900 – 14 June 1990) was a German lyric coloratura soprano. She was best known for her Queen of the Night and her Konstanze. Career Born in Dresden, Germany, Berger spent some years as a child in India and South Ameri ...

as Figaro *

as Countess Rosina, sung by

Tiana Lemnitz Tiana Lemnitz (26 October 1897 – 5 February 1994) was a German operatic soprano. Her major operatic career took place between the two world wars (1919-1939). Life and career The youngest of 10 children, she was born in Metz to a musical ...

* Mathieu Ahlersmeyer as Count Almaviva *

Elsa Wagner Elsa Wagner (24 January 1881 – 17 August 1975) was a German actress who appeared in numerous theatrical productions and feature films during the 20th century, including 1920's '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari''. Life and career Born as Elisab ...

as Marcellina, sung by

Margarete Klose Margarete Klose (6 August 1899 or 1902 – 14 December 1968) was a German operatic mezzo-soprano. Life Klose was born (as Frida Klose) and died in Berlin. She lost her father early in life and had to earn her living as a secretary, until a coll ...

Victor Janson Victor Arthur Eduard Janson ( lv, Viktors Artūrs Eduards Jansons; 25 September 1884 – 29 June 1960) was a German stage and film actor and film director of Latvians, Latvian ethnicity. Selected filmography Actor * ''Your Dearest Enemy'' (1916) ...

as Dr. Bartolo, sung by Eugen Fuchs *

Alfred Balthoff Alfred Balthoff (1905 – 1989) was a German stage, film and television actor. He also worked as a voice actor, dubbing foreign releases for the German-speaking market. Of Jewish background, he spent the final years of the Nazi era in hiding.No ...

as Basilio, sung by Paul Schmidtmann * Franz Weber as Don Curzio, sung by *

Ernst Legal Ernst Otto Eduard Legal (2 May 1881 – 29 June 1955) was a German actor and opera director of Berlin State Opera. Born on 2 May 1881 in Schlieben in the Prussian Province of Saxony, he was the father of the actress Marga Legal. He died in B ...

as Antonio, sung by Willi Sahler * Willi Puhlmann as Cherubino, sung by Anneliese Müller *

Katharina Mayberg Katharina Mayberg (1925–2007) was a German film and television actress. Partial filmography * ''Gaspary's Sons'' (1948) * ''The Murder Trial of Doctor Jordan'' (1949) * '' The Marriage of Figaro'' (1949) - Barbarina * ''Theodore the Goalkeep ...

as Barbarina, sung by Elfriede Hingst * as Scribe (not a role in the opera)

References

Bibliography

* Davidson, John E. & Hake, Sabine. ''Framing the Fifties: Cinema in a Divided Germany''. Berghahn Books, 2007.

External links

*
''Figaros Hochzeit''

''Figaros Hochzeit''

filmportal.de filmportal.de is an online database of information related to German film. It includes extensive information on films and filmmakers as well as articles on film issues. The website was released on occasion of the 54th Berlin International Film Fe ...

1949 films German historical musical films 1940s historical musical films East German films 1940s German-language films Films directed by Georg Wildhagen Films based on The Marriage of Figaro Films set in Seville Films set in the 18th century German black-and-white films Films shot at Babelsberg Studios Opera films 1940s German films {{musical-film-stub