Weddings never go as planned. Tears, confusion and laughter are the key ingredients to a typical wedding day, but in Mozart’s “Le nozza di Figaro,” it’s anything but ordinary.
Translated to “The Marriage of Figaro,” this 1786 comedic opera was beautifully revived by very talented cast and chorus at the Cal State Long Beach University Theater Friday night, corresponded by an orchestra presented by The Bob Cole Conservatory of Music.
The opera was completely performed in Italian and accompanied by supertitles (subtitles) that overhead the stage for aid. The scene is set in the late 1700s. Elaborately decorated rooms and sceneries of a castle – home of the Count and Countess – were projected precisely on the stage that changed according to scene.
The first scene was silent film-like as characters ran around the stage chasing after each other, foreshadowing a bit of the story. No one spoke and only gestured while the orchestra introduced with the play with recognizable classical melodies.
The overall story was a little complex. Main characters Figaro (Stephen Salts) and Susanna (Beth Wightwick) – both of whom are servants at the castle – are to be married. But their employer, the Count (Anthony Moreno), wants to seduce and trick them to proclaim his dominance and take Figaro’s place on their wedding night. Throughout the opera, Figaro and Susanna come up with ever-changing plans to foil the Count’s intentions.
On the other hand, the Countess (Alyssa Wills) takes wind the Count’s intentions. She fakes an anonymous note from a supposed lover that brews suspicions and jealously in the Count, giving him a taste of his own medicine.
On the side, a story of a young page named Cherubino (Jessie Shulman) is being forced to serve in the military for his inappropriate conduct of chasing women. Susanna offers assistance to find a way to let him stay. The old man Bartolo (Michael Valentekovic) helps the prima donna Marcellina (Rebecca Hasquet) get money that is owed to them from Figaro. Then, there’s the flamboyant Basilio (Daniel Favela) who enjoys gossiping and offensively touching other men on their behinds.
Their stories are different but intertwine on the castle grounds. On-stage, the story was easier to follow had the audience familiarized themselves with the story through the synopsis found in the program or otherwise. While the supertitles were supposed to translate what the characters were singing in Italian into English, not everything was translated although that was to be expected; most of what they say is repeated or easily interpreted by gesture.
Unfortunately, there was obvious confusion in the audience with gestures of their own when subtitles were absent for minutes at a time or were flashed instantly because of technical problems. This was mostly a problem in the beginning.
As for the rest of the opera, the cast and chorus exemplified fine opera-singing. As the main characters, Wightwick, Shulman, Wills and Moreno displayed specular vocals upon their own monologue/solos that sent shivers down the viewer’s spins.
Their physical performances were very funny. Their gestures were helpful in translation – or lack thereof – to express their battles of love and jealousy. But absolute kudos to Favela. His portrayal of the elaborate Basilio had the audience laughing in every scene he was in, whether he was talking or just standing in the background doing something inappropriate. However, his singing sounded more Spanish than it did Italian.
The classically trained orchestra fit like the perfect soundtrack. The harpsichord, played by David Anglin, especially lends itself to perfect comedic timing and a period-musical sound. The music paired with powered-wigs and corseted, gaudy dresses brought the audience into the 18th century.
Even with the forgivable mishaps in subtitles and one scenery twitch, the overall performance was near perfect.
The opera also continued on Saturday and Sunday with their own sets of opera singers.
