Sex, love and power — ah, it’s Mozart time
S.F. Opera tackles composer’s classic ‘Marriage of Figaro’
In Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro,” the title character and Susanna, both servants in the house of Count Almaviva, are about to be married.
One thing stands in their way. The Count intends to invoke his droit du seigneur — the right that allows him to sleep with Susanna before she and Figaro say their vows.
If the premise recalls the kind of headlines that have rocked the arts world in recent years, note that Mozart and librettist Lorenzo da Ponte wrote the opera in 1786. “Figaro,” based on Beaumarchais’ revolutionary play, is both a deeply humane comedy and a profound exploration of class privilege, dominance and love in the time of powerful masters and their servants.
It’s all in the music, says conductor Henrik Nánási, who is leading eight performances of Mozart’s masterpiece at San Francisco Opera.
“Mozart’s music is pure genius,” Nánási explained over coffee after a recent rehearsal. “He holds a mirror up to all of us. With his operas, he writes about our pleasures, our fears and our deepest feelings.”
In “Figaro,” he adds, the composer turned accepted notions about power and class on their heads.
“Power is so important in this opera,” said the conductor. “Figaro and Susanna have the same human qualities as the Count and the Contessa. They have the same feelings, the same intelligence.
“The Count and Contessa are of a higher class, but they’re not better people — and Mozart brings them down to the same level.”
Despite its central conflict, Mozart’s score is suffused with warmth, humor and fully dimensional characters. “This opera is so special,” said Nánási. “Parts of it are the best ever written. His feeling for balance — between voice and orchestra, drama and buffo comedy, strings and woodwinds — made it an example for many later composers.”
San Francisco Opera’s production is directed by Michael Cavanagh, with set design by Erhard Rom, costumes by Constance Hoffman and lighting by Jane Cox. “Figaro” launches the company’s three-year project of spanning the great Mozart-da Ponte operas, each set in a single American manor house in a different era, with “Così fan tutte” and “Don Giovanni” still to come in successive seasons.
The “Figaro” cast features bassbaritone Michael Sumuel in the title role. Four artists make their San Francisco Opera debuts in the opera’s other principal roles: soprano Jeanine De Bique sings the role of Susanna and baritone Levente Molnár is Count Almaviva. Soprano Nicole Heaston, replacing originally scheduled Jennifer Davis, joins the cast as the Countess, and mezzo-soprano Serena Malfi is the young page Cherubino.
Nánási, who scored a widely hailed triumph in his 2017 San Francisco Opera debut with a gripping production of Richard Strauss’ “Elektra,” has become one of the opera world’s rising star conductors.
Born in Hungary, he studied piano and composition at the Béla Bartók Academy (his wife, Veronika Ágnes Fáncsik, is also a composer.)
Based in Berlin, the 44-year old Nánási still pursues composing, although in recent seasons, conducting assignments have taken precedence. He was general music director of Berlin’s Komische Opera from 2012 to 2017 and has distinguished himself in opera houses in Barcelona, London, Munich and Chicago. Earlier this year, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut, conducting a double bill of Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” — one of his all-time favorite operas — and Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta.”
Later this season, he’ll return to Chicago to conduct “Madama Butterfly” then preside over performances of “Eugene Onegin” in Munich.
For now, though, Nánási says he’s thrilled to be back in Mozart’s world.
“I love the challenge of Mozart,” he said. “This is a piece you can never know enough about. There’s so much in it, and each new cast, each new production gives you a chance to try new things.
“All of his characters are complex human beings, with strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures. He understands human nature so well, and that’s why we always feel so connected to his music.”