The Marriage of Figaro

I topped off a week of activity by going to the Met's new production of Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro".   I sat in our usual preferred location, far to the side of the auditorium, with a partial view of the stage, but right above the orchestra.   The sound there is wonderful; you can hear every detail of the orchestra, and the singers are quite present, as well.   And in this case, the playing of the orchestra as conducted by James Levine was absolutely breathtaking.  It is almost impossible to describe in words how it sounded; every detail was filled with nuance, both highly crafted and alive with energy.  The singers were decent, but when the opera got to the ensembles, they were really spectacular.  For me, that is when Mozart's operas really shine; again words fail me when I try to describe his incredible creativity and invention in these large scale numbers.  


Oh, and the production.   I usually don't pay much attention to the sets.  It was set in 1930's Spain, and there were rotating things.   But the ensemble acting was great, and one should never underestimate the skill involved in staging the action when you have seven characters on stage doing different things.  And it was faithful to the libretto, which really matters.

Is "The Marriage of Figaro" my favorite opera?   Quite possibly..

The set:

My view of the pit (during intermission):

Tom Stoppard Goes To India

I saw the Tom Stoppard play "Indian Ink" in New York.  Written in 1995, it was having its New York premiere, which is surprising.   It was written two years after "Arcadia", and shares the plot device of existing simultaneously in two time periods, and with characters in the present investigating events of the past.  In this case, the plot concerns a young British female poet, who in the 1930's went to India (for her health) and died there.   A contemporary professor (in the 1980's) is doing research on her life, and interviewing her surviving sister.   The staging of the two time periods simultaneously on stage is wonderful, with all kinds of interesting transitions.   And, of course, the play is filled with the usual kind of Stoppardian wit and linguistic play, and detailed discussions of all kinds of esoteric things.   It is mostly about India, though, and centers around what it meant to be Indian in the 1930's when the English were running the show.  The production and acting were mostly excellent; I had some reservations about the lead character, whose voice mostly had one high-pitched mode; and failed to exploit the full range of her character's  emotions.   I would happily see the play again (which is true for me with any Stoppard play!)

The poet (in the 1930's), in the yellow dress, with her younger sister (who is in the 1980's):

Meeting the Rajah: