Marriage of Figaro never more relevant
Sexual harassment scandals plaguing Hollywood make plot of opera ‘more current’
A powerful man badgers a young female employee to have sex with him, believing it is his right. Sound familiar?
It’s not the latest sexual harassment scandal coming out of Hollywood, with allegations against movers and shakers like Harvey Weinstein and James Toback making headlines. It’s the plot of the 1786 opera The Marriage of Figaro.
The Mozart opera “couldn’t be more current,” says Marshall Pynkoski, co-artistic director of Opera Atelier.
The Toronto company, which specializes in period opera, opens its 2017-18 season on Thursday with Figaro.
Although the 34-year-old opera company is dedicated to showcasing the Baroque era, it is not a “museum” and therefore open to innovation, Pynkoski says.
“I use the 18th century as a catalyst. I put a little edge in the production.”
The edge in Figaro comes from its plot, about Count Almaviva’s bid to exercise his “droit de seigneur,” the supposed right of a nobleman to have sex with the bride of an employee on her wedding night.
In this case, the bride is Susanna, maid to the Countess Almaviva, who is about to marry the Count’s servant Figaro.
Powerful men being sexually aggressive with women who need work is a weighty subject, but Mozart made his opera a comedy with Susanna, Figaro and their accomplices, including the Countess, foiling the Count’s evil intentions, Pynkoski says.
Soprano Mireille Asselin is the feisty and resourceful Susanna, who has modern ideas about choosing her own destiny and sharing an equal marriage.
She boxes Figaro’s ears and slaps his rear end as they banter about their upcoming nuptials and the problem of evading the Count.
“Humour helps her deal with a fundamental injustice,” Asselin says.
One difference between traditional productions of Figaro and Opera Atelier’s is that theirs is sung in English.
The original Italian libretto is beautiful to sing, but Asselin says the English version retains the meaning and continues to be poetic.
Jeremy Sams’ English translation also ensures the humour in the opera is sharp and immediate, Pynkoski says.
In non-English-language operas, there can be a lag between the action and getting the joke in the translated surtitle, no matter how clever the audience is in following the antics onstage.
Bass-baritone Douglas Williams says clarity of word and deed onstage is important because the issue of misuse of power for sexual pleasure is so topical
Bass-baritone Douglas Williams, who plays Figaro, says singing The Marriage of Figaro in English will give the audience “an emotional connection you can’t compare,” and show the real and loving relationship between the two servants.
Because the issue of misuse of power for sexual pleasure is so topical, Williams says clarity of word and deed onstage is important.
The protagonists argue for equality and question an age-old practice as something that should have been abolished long ago, Williams says.
“And isn’t that what everyone is saying today? It makes Figaro forward-thinking.” The Marriage of Figaro runs Thursday to Nov. 4 at the Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge St. See operaatelier.com for information or call 1-855-622-2787.