LE NOZZE DI FIGARO

In the organizer's words:

Today marks the beginning of a joyous day at the castle. The wedding of Figaro and Susanna, both in the service of Conte Almaviva and sponsored by him, is finally to take place. Everything seems perfect - and is of course only half the truth. In fact, the Count is after Susanna and tries to play his employees off against each other wherever he can. At the same time, he believes he has to keep an eye on his lonely wife, as well as his pubescent nephew Cherubino, who constantly puts him in compromising situations. The longer the crazy day goes on, the less the Conte seems to be the master of his house. Only when everyone gangs up on him are the rules of the game changed. But until this happens, until Figaro and Susanna are finally married, until the Conte and Contessa are reconciled, until a genuine plea for forgiveness for wrongdoing is made, the most beautiful and profound human comedy we know of in opera takes place: Mozart's LE NOZZE DI FIGARO. Here, reason, intrigue and emotional desire are perfectly balanced when it comes to bringing order to the emotional confusion that has always united people. For his first Mozart libretto in 1786, librettist Lorenzo da Ponte took on a brand new and very delicate drama, Beaumarchais' French comedy "La folle journée ou Le mariage de Figaro", a critical portrayal of conditions in the Ancien Régime. Mozart embraced the revolutionary idea; after all, he had just settled in Vienna as a freelance artist and had a clear vision of how he wanted to live as a citizen in a still feudal world. Much more important, however, is the love and respect that his music shows to every single character on stage, because Mozart helps everyone - whether young or old, better or worse off - to achieve their rights. Mozart's masterful ensemble piece is conducted by GMD Andrés Orozco-Estrada. Katharina Thoma, already known in Cologne for THE WOMAN WITHOUT A SHADOW, directs this musical comedy that never falls out of time.