Title
Files
Download Full Text (12.0 MB)
Description
Madison Marsala, MUS303: Music History 2
Faculty Mentor(s): Professor Carolyn Guzski, Music
In his work with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1792) was able to construct one of the most impressive operas of the Classical era, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro, 1786), which changed the way narration and storytelling took place on the Classical lyric stage. As one of Mozart's three famous Italian operas, Figaro is unique in the way that it allows expressive depth within the characters and their relationships through not only the actors' performances, but the musical element themselves. The focus of the Overture in Act I is the way orchestration helps tell the characters' stories. I discuss its musical elements is to harmonically analyze the score and each of the instrument's roles. Act I begins with the lives of our main characters, Figaro and Susanna, as they plan their wedding while trying to stabilize their relationships with the Count and Countess whom they serve. Mozart creates strong and relatable characters and relationships with their struggles over money, lack of power, and the quest for love, as well as enduring sense of protection Figaro and Susanna have for each other.
Publication Date
2021
Recommended Citation
Marsala, Madison, "Mozart's Crazy Day" (2021). Arts. 24.
https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/srcc-sp21-arts/24
