Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is probablythe greatest genius in western musicalhistory. He excelled in every genre inwhich he worked, composing over 600works including 22 operas and over 40symphonies.He was born in 1756 inSalzburg, Austria, the last of sevenchildren born to Leopold Mozart andhis wife Anna Maria, and one of onlytwo to survive infancy. His father, a tal-ented violinist and author of a suc-cessful treatise on violin technique,played in the court orchestra of theArchbishop of Salzburg. Mozart’s relationship with his fatherwas central to his life. Leopold Mozarthas been vilified as the archetypaldomineering father, dragging his prodi-giously talented son around the courtsof Europe at an early age and interfer-ing in his personal life. In fact, there isno evidence to suggest that Leopoldwas motivated by anything other thanlove and concern for his son’s well-being and success. He was one of thefew people who recognized his son’sunique gift, and he took every step toprevent it from being squandered.At the age of four, Wolfgang began tostudy keyboard and composition withhis father. Wolfgang’s elder sisterMaria Anna (Nannerl) was also a tal-ented pianist, though once shereached adulthood, the conventions ofthe time obliged her to confine her tal-ents to the domestic sphere. Leopoldsaw it as his duty to exhibit his excep-tional children to the world. When theywere six and eleven respectively, hetook them to perform before the Elec-tor of Bavaria at Munich, and the Em-press Maria Theresa in Vienna. From 1763 to 1766, the Mozart chil-dren were the darlings of audiences inGermany, the French court of Ver-sailles and in London, where Mozartwrote his first symphonies. In 1768 hecomposed his first opera, La FintaSemplice, (The Pretend Simpleton).From 1769 to 1772, he toured Italywhere he performed many concerts,received a papal audience, composedthree operas and wrote eight sym-phonies.

The trouble with child prodigies is thatthey grow up, and at the age of nine,fickle audiences no longer foundMozart a charming novelty. As hisfame dwindled, he worked for tokensalaries composing a large number ofsecular and sacred works. In 1779, hereturned to Salzburg where he wasgiven the position of court organist andcomposer of church music, includingthe famous Coronation Mass.In the summer of 1780, he was com-missioned to write a new opera forMunich, on the subject of Idomeneus,king of Crete. Idomeneo is Mozart’sfirst great opera, the first in which hedemonstrated his extraordinary talentfor bringing characters to life, allowingthem to express real human emotionsthrough the medium of music. Back in Vienna in 1781 he composeda group of three new piano concertosto play at his own subscription con-certs, three magnificent wind sere-nades and a new opera, DieEntfuhrung aus dem Serail (The Ab-duction from the Seraglio), with a Ger-man text and spoken dialogue (adevice known as Singspiel). Its suc-cess was marred only by the laconicremark of the emperor that it seemedto have “too many notes”.

Audience Guide2009-2010

50th Anniversary Season Issue 3, January/February 2010

IN THIS ISSUE

AUDIENCE GUIDEResearch/Writing by Justine Leonard

for ENLIGHTEN,Skylight Opera Theatre’s Education ProgramEdited by Ray Jivoff414-299-4965

rayj@skylightopera.comwww.skylightopera.com

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MOZART

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Wolfgang AmadeusMozart’s

The Marriage ofFigaro

Libretto by Lorenzo Da PonteTranslated by Andrew Porter

In 1782, against his father’s wishes,he married Constanza Weber, theyounger sister of his first love, Aloysia,who had turned him down. TheMozart’s had six children, two of whosurvived.For several years Mozarts new careerproved successful. He had a busyteaching and concert program, forwhich he turned out a string of pianoconcertos, raising the genre to newheights of virtuousity, passion and ex-pression. Among these are the Con-certo in D minor (K466), a highlyemotional work in the Sturm andDrang (storm and stress) style; and itscompanion in C major (K467), whoseexquisite slow movement was featuredin the 1967 film Elvira Madigan.Mozart’s first love, however, wasopera - the genre which could make orbreak a composer - and in 1785 hebegan work on a daring new opera,based on Pierre Beaumarchais’ notori-ous French play, The Marriage of Fi-garo, which had been produced theprevious year. The attack on aristo-cratic morals, disguised as a comedy,had already been banned in Vienna.Mozart’s collaborator was the Italianadventurer, ex-priest and poet LorenzoDa Ponte (1749-1838), with whom healso worked on two later operas, DonGiovanni and Cosi fan Tutte.The Marriage of Figaro is one of thegreat monuments of Western art - amasterpiece of characterization, quick-silver wit and emotional depth. But Vi-enna failed to appreciate it. By thistime, Mozart’s arrogance had madehim many enemies, including the pow-erful court composer, Antonio Salieri.Salieri and his friends were intenselyjealous of Mozart’s abundant talent,and did all they could to sabotage theopera’s production. Salieri may not lit-erally have poisoned Mozart, as somelater claimed, but he certainly stifledhis rival’s career. However, audiencesin Prague, where Figaro was producedin 1787, took the opera to their hearts,and immediately commissioned a newopera, Don Giovanni.The final years of Mozart’s brief lifewere a dismal catalogue of financialworry, constant moves to cheaperapartments, and failing health. He

finally achieved his desire of a courtappointment, but only as a chambercomposer, writing dance music forcourt balls for a meager salary. In the summer of 1788, Mozart wrotehis last three symphonies, includingthe Jupiter (No. 41), in the space of afew weeks; it is not known if he everheard them performed. A third operawritten with Da Ponte, Cosi fan tutte(literally, “so do all women”), was pre-miered in the autumn of 1789. By theend of 1790 Mozart was deeply de-pressed.On the surface, The Magic Flute ap-pears to be an amusing pantomimewith glorious music attached. Butcloser inspection reveals that thepiece is infused with Masonic symbol-ism, including thinly disguised versionsof secret Masonic rites and initiationceremonies. Mozart was taking anenormous risk, and it has been sug-gested, probably wrongly, that he paidfor his presumptions with his life. While working on the The Magic Flute,he received two more commissions,one for an opera seria, La clemenza diTito, (The Clemency of Titus) whichwas produced in Prague in 1791 andthe other for a Requiem Mass. The lat-ter was commissioned anonymously,via an emissary dressed in grey, by aViennese nobleman whose young wifehad died. Mozart’s own health wasfailing by this time, and as he workedon the Requiem, he became obsessed

by the idea that he was being poi-soned. In fact, he had advanced kid-ney disease. He was only 35 whendied in his wife’s arms on December 5,1791. The unfinished Requiem wascompleted after his death by FranzSussmayr, one of his pupils.He was given the cheapest possiblefuneral in an unmarked grave. Muchhas been made of this, but at that timesuch burial was legally required for allViennese except those of noble oraristocratic birth.According to the Arizona Opera web-site, his contemporaries found therestless ambivalence and complicatedemotional content of his music difficultto understand. Accustomed to thelight, superficial style of rococo music,his aristocratic audiences could notaccept the music's complexity anddepth. Yet, with Josef Haydn, Mozartperfected the grand forms of sym-phony, opera, string quartet and con-certo that marked the classical periodin music. In his operas Mozart's un-canny psychological insight is uniquein musical history. His music influ-enced the work of the later Haydn andof the next generation of composers,most notably Beethoven. The bril-liance of his work continued until theend, although darker themes ofpoignancy and isolation grew moremarked in his last years, and his musiccontinues to fascinate musicians andmusic lovers.

the marriage of figaroAudience Guide

The Marriage of Figaro (1795), wasMozart’s second opera for Vienna, andhis first collaboration with librettistLorenzo Da Ponte. Based on the sec-ond of a trilogy of plays by Beaumar-chais about the Spanish barber Figaroit had recently created a scandalacross Europe for its political content.The idea that a count with wicked de-signs on his wife’s maid and gettinghis come-uppance from his servantsand his wife was clearly inflammatory.Louis XIV called the play “detestable,”while Napoleon claimed it “the revolu-tion in action.”The story line is complex: A count in-tends to use the nobility’s “right of thefirst night” (to sleep with the bride be-fore the groom does) even though thepractice had been officially banned.The maid, Susanna and her fiance, Fi-garo, also the count’s servant, join theCountess in a plan to trick the Countinto loving his own wife. This operaticrepresentation of the revolutionaryideas of 1776, is filled with humor, dis-guises and jokes, and incorporated the

themes of fidelity and love, real nobilityversus “noble” birth, perception versusreality, poses the question of what thefuture holds for society. How could Mozart resist a play thatwas a sharp social satire, a sparklingcomedy of manners with splendidcharacters and already a scandaloussuccess? It also enabled him to rivalGiovanni Paisiello, whose Barber ofSeville in 1782, based on Beaumar-chais’ first Figaro play, had been ahuge success in Vienna in 1783.Da Ponte had to tone down the moreseditious passages of the play, andalso focus and simplify the dialogue toaccommodate the slower speed ofsung rather than spoken text. But hedid not alter the play as much as onemight expect as it was too tautly struc-tured to be cut extensively, and muchof the libretto simply translates Beau-marchais word for word. Usually, Mozart detested rhymes in li-bretti believing that words should suitthe music, not forced into a rhyme.Yet, Da Ponte was able to constructrhymes that fit naturally into Mozart’smusic. In The Marriage of Figaro, forexample, he cut away much of the po-litical and social entanglements fromBeaumarchais's Le Mariage de Figaroto make room for Mozart's expansion-through-music of the play's emotionalheart. Although some arias translate parallelspeeches in the play, elsewhere DaPonte must halt the action to providean aria and thus develop his charac-ters more extensively. The carefullycalculated transformation of the count-ess, whose renewed self-understand-ing becomes the focal point of theaction, is particularly striking. In theplay, the Countess appears in a groupscene in Act I while her first appear-ance in the opera is at the top of ActII, alone on stage, singing the firstslow aria in the opera.Before the production of The Marriageof Figaro, what existed were bothcomic and serious operas, with set-piece arias, duets and trios, with a cer-tain amount of action connected by

recitatives, designed to show off thevocal qualitites of the singers. WIththis work, the composer and librettist,who considered art to be very seriousbusiness, set an entirely new standardin opera which shook the world.The Marriage of Figaro used the fullcolors of the orchestra and voice witharias, sextets and quartets to create areal drama filled with ironies and para-doxes, which truly enabled the audi-ence to leave the theatre better peoplethan when they entered it.Mozart renders his characters as farmore human than their derivation fromcommedia dell’arte stereotypes wouldsuggest. He developed a musical stylethat fully meets the demands of com-edy. This is especially apparent in theglorious ensembles. The best exampleis the sextet in Act II, where the dramaof Figaro recovering his long-lost par-ents is matched perfectly by themusic. Similarly, the finale of Act Ielaborates a well-founded musicalstucture of unprecedented length tosupport the ebb and flow of the action.Perhaps for the first time, Mozart hasfully realized the potential of the Clas-sical style.

the marriage of figaroAudience GuideThe Opera

The Marriage of Figaroby Saint-Quentin, 1785

In his remarkable lifetime, Da Pontewas a Jew and a Catholic, a priest anda passionate lover of many women.He was a friend of Casanova, a faithfulhusband and devoted father, an Italianand later an American. And that wasjust his personal life! Lorenzo Da Ponte was born EmanueleConegliano in 1749 to Jewish parentsin the ghetto of Ceneda, a Venetiansuburb. His mother died when he was5 and the family’s children ran wild; bythe age of 11 he could barely read orwrite. When he was 14, his father fellin love with a Roman Catholic girl, andin order to marry her, he and his familyhad to convert to Catholicism. Lorenzowas then able to get an education byjoining a seminary and becoming apriest. The young Lorenzo, whoviewed his orders as a means to anend, had his share of love affairs, pro-ducing several illegitimate children.Da Ponte wrote some poems thatquestioned the value of an organizedsociety which were denounced in theVenetian Senate, and his subsequenttrial made a great sensation. He wasdismissed from his teaching positionand was banished from Venice for fif-teen years. Two years and many adventures later,Da Ponte ended up in Vienna with anintroduction to Antonio Salieri, the di-rector of the Italian Opera, the Court

composer and a rival of Mozart. Vi-enna was the cultural capital of theworld and Da Ponte soon gained thefavor of Emperor Joseph II. The Em-peror appointed him to the post ofPoet to the Italian Theatre where hewas to write new libretti and adaptthose of others. His famous collabora-tion with Mozart began with The Mar-riage of Figaro and went on to DonGiovanni and Cosi Fan Tutte.Never shy about his abilities, in hismemoirs Da Ponte took full credit forMozart’s success: ”I can rememberwithout exaltation and complacency,that it was to my perseverance andfirmness alone that Europe and theworld in great part owe the exquisitevocal compositions of the admirablegenius.” However, other than thosewritten for Mozart, the many libretti forwhich Da Ponte was responsible havelargely been forgotten. When Joseph II died, Da Ponte fell outof favor with the new Emperor and itwas time to move on. Ever the oppor-tunist, Lorenzo found his one-time Ju-daism convenient when he met thelove of his life, Nancy Grahl, a womantwenty-years younger than he, and thedaughter of a Dutch convert. Theymarried in a synagogue, circumventingLorenzo's vow of celibacy while ob-taining a valid marriage license.

After reaching theheights of artist successand the depths of finan-cial ruin in some of Eu-rope’s greatest cities, heand his family immi-grated to the UnitedStates in 1805 to beginanew. After a time in NewJersey, the Da Pontesmoved to New York. Achance meeting withClement Clark Moore,best known as the authorof The Night BeforeChristmas, led to DaPonte obtaining well-to-do pupils for Italian les-sons. Eventually, DaPonte founded the Man-hattan Academy forYoung Gentlemen. There

boys learned Italian, French, Latin,writing and ciphering, grammar andgeography. Later Da Ponte moved toPennsylvania where he worked as agrocer, distiller, milliner, seller of medi-cines and a teamster. He was also arespected teacher who took in board-ers and introduced them to the joy ofItalian cooking. At age 76, he becamethe first professor of Italian at Colum-bia University and helped establishNew York City’s first opera house. In1828, at the age of 79, Da Ponte be-came a naturalized US citizen.In an Opera News review of TheLibrettist of Venice, a biography byRodney Bolt, writer Joanne SydneyLessner says that “Da Ponte emergesas a mass of contradictions-brilliant,charismatic, witty and optimistic, butalso arrogant, malicious, gullible andparanoid...Even at ninety years old,the inexhaustible Da Ponte continuedto launch new schemes. Through it all,his motto was ‘Dare all, hope all’." This amazing man lived through theAmerican Revolutionary War, theFrench Revolution and the conquestand defeat of Napoleon. He had livedin the glittering last years of the Vene-tian Republic, the brilliance of Viennaunder Joseph II and the London ofGeorge III, and was forced to leavethem all, penniless and under a cloud.In each case, his indomitable spirit en-abled him to build a new life. He wasto write: “How wonderful is it that thethree operas of Mozart and Da Ponteare more highly esteemed and valuedin every theatre in Europe: the onlyones that can cry out in triumph. ‘WEARE ENTERNAL’.” When Da Ponte died in 1838 in NewYork, an enormous funeral ceremonywas held in old St. Patrick's Cathedralon Mulberry Street.

Livingston, Arthur, ed. Memoirs of Lorenzo Da Ponte.Orion Press, New York, 1959.Fitzlyon, April: The Libertine Librettist. London, JohnCalder, 1955.Hodges, Sheila: Lorenzo Da Ponte: The Life andTimes of Mozart’s Librettist, Granada, 1985. Adapted and edited from the San Diego Operapaedia

the marriage of figaroAudience GuideDiscovering Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749-1838)

The Skylight Audience Guide pub-lished a detailed biography of play-wright Beaumarchais during the run ofThe Barber of Seville earlier this sea-son. Here are a few reminders of hismany accomplishments.

Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais(1732–1799) was one of the most color-ful figures in France in his day. He wasa watchmaker, inventor, musician,diplomat, fugitive, spy, publisher, armsdealer, revolutionary and a great lover.Today he is best known for his theatri-cal works, especially his Figaro plays. ● Always a champion for independ-ence, probably his most significantcontribution to world history was hisdevotion to American independence.● He founded the Société des Auteurs(1777) to enable playwrights to obtainroyalty payments.● In his writings, Beaumarchais con-tributed greatly, perhaps uncon-sciously, to hurry the events that led tothe French Revolution. Napoleon char-acterized his work as the "revolutionalready in action.” ● The Barber of Seville and The Mar-riage of Figaro showed Beaumarchais’sympathy for the lot of the under-privi-leged people and the lower classes.

● His comedy The Barber of Seville(1772) was kept off the stage for threeyears because it criticized the aristoc-racy. His Marriage of Figaro (1784) simi-larly criticized the nobility and it, too,was initially banned.● In both plays, the hero is a valet, Fi-garo, cleverer than his noble employ-ers. In his famous monologue Figarocondemned his aristocratic employerand tormentor, forecasting with hisprotest the coming revolution. Some Beaumarchais quotes:“If censorship reigns there cannot besincere flattery, and only small menare afraid of small writings.”“As long as I don't write about the gov-ernment, religion, politics, and otherinstitutions, I am free to print any-thing.” “Because you are a great lord, you be-lieve yourself to be a great genius. Youtook the trouble to be born, but nomore.” “Drinking when we are not thirsty andmaking love at all seasons, madam:that is all there is to distinguish usfrom other animals.” “I hasten to laugh at everything, forfear of being obliged to weep.” “If a thing isn't worth saying, you sing it.” “It is not necessary to understandthings in order to argue about them.” “Vilify, vilify, some of it will always stick.” “Where love is concerned, too much isnot even enough.”

the marriage of figaroAudience GuideBeaumarchais Revisited

Costume design by Carol Blanchard

ACT I, scene 1Figaro measures the room he will oc-cupy after his marriage to Susanna.Both are in the service of Count Alma-viva. Susanna warns her fiancé thatthe Count has given them a room nearhis own because he has designs onher and Figaro vows to outwit him (“Ifyou’d come dancing”). Dr. Bartolo, theCountess’s old guardian and suitor, ar-rives with his housekeeper, Marcellina.Bartolo seeks revenge on Figaro, whocaused him to lose Rosina to Alma-viva. Knowing that Figaro once prom-ised to marry Marcellina as collateralon a loan, Bartolo persuades her toforeclose (“I’ll have vengeance”). Theskirt-chasing page Cherubino stealsin, begging Susanna’s protection fromthe Count, who caught him flirting withBarbarina, the gardener’s daughter.After pouring out his love of love (“I amcaught by a spell”), he hides as theCount enters to woo Susanna. Inter-rupted by the arrival of the music mas-ter, Don Basilio, the Count also hides,but he steps forward when Basiliohints that Cherubino has a crush onthe Countess. Just as the Count dis-covers Cherubino, Figaro arrives tothank the Count for abolishing the droitdu seigneur, an old custom giving thelocal landowner the first night with anybride among his retainers. Feigninggood will, the Count drafts Cherubinointo his regiment.

ACT I, scene 2In her bedroom, the Countess lamentsthe waning of her husband’s love(“God of Love”). Figaro and Susannatell her about the Count’s machina-tions and the three plot to chastenhim. Cherubino, disguised as Su-sanna, will keep an assignation withthe Count. When Figaro leaves, thepage comes to serenade the Countesswith a song of his own composition(“Tell me, fair ladies”). While dressingthe boy in girl’s clothes, Susanna goesout for a ribbon, and the Countknocks, furious to find the door barred.The Countess locks Cherubino in acloset before admitting her husband.The jealous Count hears a noise; theCountess insists it’s Susanna, but hedoesn’t believe her. Taking his wifewith him, he goes to fetch tools toforce the lock. Susanna, who hasslipped in unnoticed during their con-frontation, helps Cherubino out thewindow and takes his place in thecloset, baffling both Count and Count-ess when they return. As the Counttries to make amends, the gardener,Antonio, appears, complaining thatsomeone has stepped in his flowerbed. Figaro claims it was he whojumped from the window. Bartolo andBasilio burst in with Marcellina topress her claims against Figaro. TheCount gladly postpones the wedding,pledging to judge the case himself.

the marriage of figaroAudience GuideThe Story from The Opera News

The opera is set in Count Almaviva's castle in Seville, Spain in the late 18th Century.

ACT II, scene 1At the Countess’s prompting, Susannapromises the Count a rendezvous(“Oh why so cruel?”), but his suspi-cions are aroused when he overhearsher assuring Figaro that “the case iswon.” Enraged, he vows revenge (“I,condemned to languish”). Alone, theCountess hopes to revive her hus-band’s love (“Gone forever”). Marcel-lina now demands that Figaro pay hisdebt or marry her, but a birthmarkproves he is her long-lost son by Bar-tolo, and the parents call off their suit,confounding the Count. The conspir-acy continues: the Countess dictates anote from Susanna, inviting the Countto the garden (“Gentle eveningbreezes”). Figaro arrives, and, as thewedding ceremony takes place, Su-sanna slips the note, sealed with a pin,to the Count.

ACT II, scene 2The pin is meant to accompany theCount’s reply, but Barbarina, his mes-senger, has lost it in the garden. Sheexplains her predicament to Figaro,who, unaware of the ladies’ latest plot,thinks Susanna has betrayed him. Hegives Barbarina another pin, planningto ambush his bride with the Count. Figaro, left alone, curses women fortheir duplicity (“Fool if you trust awoman’”), then hides when Susannaappears, rhapsodizing on her love forFigaro without naming him (“Here atlast is the moment”). Figaro is besidehimself, assuming her serenade ismeant for the Count. Susanna and theCountess secretly exchange dresses,and in the darkness both Cherubinoand the Count woo the Countess,thinking her to be Susanna (“Gently,gently”). Figaro at last perceives thejoke and gets even by wooing Susanna in her Countess disguise,provoking and then pacifying her.When the Count returns, he sees Figaro flirting with what appears to bethe Countess. He calls the whole com-pany to witness his judgment but is si-lenced when the real Countessappears and reveals the ruse. Shegrants the Count’s plea for forgive-ness, and everyone celebrates.

the marriage of figaroAudience Guide

The Marriage of Figaro set designs by Van Santvoord

In opera parlance they’re known aspants roles: A young male charactersung by a woman, usually a mezzo-soprano, meant to imitate the sound ofa boy whose voice has not yetchanged. Mozart’s The Marriage of Fi-garo features Cherubino, one of mostfamous pants roles in opera. How did all this gender bending inopera get started? Cross-dressing inthe theater has a long history, goingback at least as far as the ancientGreeks. The Greeks believed that al-lowing women to perform publiclywould be too dangerous so men wereused to portray females. The modern pants role has evolvedfrom a mixed history in church musicand in the theater from the middle ofthe 1500s. In both church and onstage, the use of male voices in so-prano, mezzo soprano and alto rolescame about because of a ban onwomen performing in public. In the17th century, female singers began toappear in a new form of musical the-ater called opera. Christian authoritieswere not happy with the new develop-ment. Pope Clement XI said, "Awoman who sings on stage and keepsher chastity is like a man who leapsinto the Tiber and keeps his feet dry." In 17th and 18th century Italian opera,adolescent boys and young men wereoften played by castrati. The practiceof castrati developed in response tothe demand for high voices and theproblem of training young boys, only tolose them when their voices broke.Boys with promising voices were se-lected and castrated prior to puberty inorder to preserve their voices. The lastknown castrato, Alessandro Moreschi(1858-1922), was a member of the Sis-tine Chapel Choir.As the castrati disappeared in the 19thcentury, operas continued to be per-formed with the castrato role sung bywomen with low voices who weredressed as men. Some of these roleshad originally been played by malesingers – either young boys, falsettisingers or castrati. Pants roles con-tinue to be cast in modern produc-tions, even though the reasons are

largely historical. In a role originallyplayed by a castrato, the options areto cast a woman dressed in male cos-tume, use a counter tenor, or to dropthe pitch of the role by an octave andcast a male tenor. However, using amale singer changes the dynamic andcolor of the role, while using a womanoffers a more authentic sound that isclosest to the castrati.A second practice dates to the mid1800s, when it was common to writeleading male roles for high voices.This was after the decline of the cas-trati in the early 1800s, so it is thoughtthat these parts were always intendedas pants roles.The other common tradition, whichcontinues into contemporary operaticcomposition, is casting women as chil-dren and young adolescents, so againthese parts were always intended to be played by women.While pants roles are something of ananachronism, they are a wonderfulchallenge for modern singers. Whenwomen are cast in these roles, theygive audiences a glimpse of how theoriginal operas, with their castratisingers, may have sounded. Roles al-ways intended as women’s parts con-tinue to offer singers an extraordinaryopportunity to stretch their acting ca-pacity to achieve the shift of gender. Some of the most famous pants rolesinclude:Orfeo Ed Euridice (1762), by ChristophWillibald Gluck, presents a differentscenario. The role of Orfeo was writtenoriginally for an alto castrato. How-ever, twelve years later, in 1774, Gluckwrote a revision for a French produc-tion using a male tenor in the role. Incontemporary productions it is mostoften cast as a pants role.Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus(1874), by Johann Strauss, was writtenas a pants role for a mezzo soprano. Itis an example of a role written inten-tionally for a woman to play ratherthan a castrato, and there is no blur-ring of gender lines with the characterdressing up in women’s clothing.

In Der Rosenkavalier (1911), RichardStrauss, the young lover of Feld-marschallin Marie Therese is Octa-vian, a soprano or high mezzosoprano pants role. Like Cherubino,Octavian dresses as a woman partway through the story, in order to dis-guise his identity. This poses a veryparticular challenge to the singer whofirst has to convince her audience,who know she is female, that the roleis male. In disguise as a female, shehas to reproduce the awkwardness ofa man in drag.Hansel in Humperdinck’s Hansel andGretel (1893) is one of the most endearing and enduring pants roles inopera.Excerpted and referenced from: “When men were men (and women, too):Through playbills, posters, photos, 'Cross-Dressing on the Stage' brings history to life” ByKen Gewertz “Girls Playing Boys - The Transition from Cas-trati to Gender Swapping” By Karen Finch.

the marriage of figaroAudience GuideWho was that Lady/Man I saw you with last night? Some information about “pants roles”

Costume design by Carol Blanchard

the marriage of figaroAudience Guide