How old is susanna in the marriage of figaro

And Susanna—nervous and breathless with fear—sings in short, choppy phrases. But, like the smart woman she is, Susanna knows what to do to regain control of the situation. She faints or at least pretends to.

The musical style for both men here shifts significantly. They are no longer respectively authoritative and apologetic, but join together in a hushed, seductive duet over Susanna. She regains consciousness just as she is about to be put in the chair that hides Cherubino, and is immediately able to put the Count and Basilio on the defensive. Within a couple of minutes, Susanna has transformed a delicate, potentially scary situation into one in which she has the upper hand.

The scene does continue to develop, and Cherubino is revealed. Everyone dances and the Count opens the letter and pricks his finger on the pin.

The chorus continues to sing about faithful lovers. As the deception and incorrect assumptions cascade in the final act, the plot grows fairly complicated. Mozart keeps it all together with some of opera's most memorable arias and a couple that are regularly cut—and were only included originally because every major character had to have their own aria in the s whether the narrative required it or not!

Figaro arrives with his mom and Barbarina tells them what has happened. Her aria is the first that is often omitted. Basilio and Bartolo meet up with Figaro, who has enlisted them in his ill-conceived plot to entrap his bride.

They are a bit confused by the whole thing, with Bartolo saying essentially just accept infidelity, Fig, and Basilio singing about his experiences.

His aria is also frequently skipped on stage. Figaro, alone now, rants about how awful women are and how they should never be trusted. Mozart significantly toned down the original monologue from the play, but Figaro still comes off as an ass, despite it being a fun aria. Figaro hides, and Susanna and the Countess enter wearing each other's clothes.

Marcellina is with them, and it is clear they have been discussing Figaro's plan. Everyone hides except Susanna who decides to mess with Figaro by singing about how excited she is for the night and her true love who is hidden in the garden.

For the finale, it is crucial to understand that it is nighttime, so even though the audience clearly sees who everyone actually is, the endless misidentification can be blamed on the darkness. It starts with Cherubino arriving in search of Barbarina. The Count goes to slap him, but the youth has fled and Figaro has stepped in and gets slapped instead. He gives her a ring, and she goes to wait for him in private.

Susanna forgets to disguise her voice and Figaro realizes what is going on, but doesn't admit it. Now he wants to pay her back and she wants to punish him. He calls everyone in to see the betrayal of his wife, and Basilio, Antonio, Bartolo, Cherubino, Barbarina, and Marcellina all enter. Then the real Countess strides on, and boy does the Count feel like an idiot.

It is heartbreaking and Mozart backs it with strings and winds and slowly everyone joins in and the music gradually soars to a delirious celebration. The action compactly takes place across one day.

Mozart wrote the music for Figaro in two sessions between the fall of and the spring of The opera had initially been set to open around Christmas , but got pushed back to the following May. The play, the second part of a trilogy, was initially banned in Paris due to its portrayal of the abuses of the aristocracy. The French Revolution was not for another fifteen years or so, but the ruling class was already a bit on edge given all the Enlightenment going on.

Napoleon would later refer to the play as the first shot of the revolution. Joseph eventually approved the project, partly because Mozart was Mozart and partly because Da Ponte promised to dial back the politics. The premiere took place May 1, at the Burgtheater. Francesco Benucci, who sang Bartolo in the prequel, sang Figaro for Mozart.

Nancy Storace, an English soprano who was a sensation during her brief time in Vienna, sang Susanna. Francesco Bussani sang Bartolo, and his wife, Dorothea, sang Cherubino. Anna Gotlieb, who was only 12, sang Barbarina. Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte collaborated on three operas that would cement Da Ponte's reputation as one of the greatest librettists in opera history.

But Da Ponte's own life seemed like something out of the theatre as well. He was born outside Venice and abandoned his seminary education in the city for a married woman. He became friends with Casanova, wrote poetry, and embarked on a lifetime of serial affairs, partying, gambling, and drinking. Eventually his excesses—and his blasphemy in the eyes of the Inquisition—got him banished from the city, but his ability for self-promotion, perhaps dishonestly, landed him on his feet in Dresden, where he worked for a successful librettist.

When Da Ponte arrived in Vienna in , he still had never written a libretto himself, however, and yet a year or so later, Emperor Joseph named him court librettist.

His philandering didn't stop with his new job, even leading to the loss of most of his teeth after Da Ponte stole the beloved of a doctor who later prescribed him an oral solution with nitric acid in it.

When Mozart approached Da Ponte with Beaumarchais' play, Da Ponte had written just four librettos, including one for Salieri that was such a failure, Salieri swore to never work with Da Ponte again. Thankfully for opera lovers, Mozart made his own decision. It was commonplace in the 18th century for composers to write new arias for specific performances or performers. In , Aloysia had a new rival in town and wanted to set the bar, so she got Mozart to write two arias for her performance in Pasquale Afossi's The Imprudent Curious Man.

The arias were so good, and the rest of the opera so bad, they caused a scandal in Vienna. Figaro denies everything. Just at that moment, Antonio the gardener arrives, complaining that someone jumped from the window and squashed his precious hydrangeas. Figaro, thinking on his feet, immediately claims it was he who jumped out of the window.

It looks like the wedding of Figaro and Susanna is off, and the wedding of Figaro and Marcellina is on! The Countess has a new plan: she and Susanna will dress up as each other, meaning the Countess — rather than Cherubino — will be meeting the Count in disguise.

Susanna must now proposition the Count, which she duly does. Restored to his parents, Figaro can finally get married to Susanna. It will be a double wedding with Bartolo and Marcellina.

Then Antonio finds Cherubino, who has been hiding dressed as a girl at his house. Barbarina asks the Count for permission to her marry Cherubino. He is forced to agree to this. All three weddings can finally take place.