The true greatness of the score isn't apparent until the second act, one of the greatest achievements in music. Here ensembles build up one after the other, culminating when Figaro has to explain to the Count why Cherubino should have returned when he was supposed to have left to join the army. After much prompting by Susanna and the Countess, he finally comes up with the explanation that the boy needed the seal (il suggello) for his commission. At this moment the score undergoes a magical resolution, and we approach the conclusion of what will have been some of the most sublime 20 minutes of ensemble singing ever composed. (This is the extended Act Two finale Mozart is made to boast of in the film Amadeus).
There are many other glories, most of them striking in their dramatic appropriateness, and covering an astonishing range of emotions, not all of them happy. As the novelist Stendhal remarked, "Mozart's Figaro is a sublime blend of wit and melancholy of which there is no comparable example."
As subtitles will be in Chinese only, non-Chinese readers are advised to be acquainted with the opera's plot in more detail beforehand. There are several versions on DVD -- a fine one is that directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (DGM 073 4034). Of the many CD sets available, my favorite is an old one, dating from 1955 and conducted by Erich Kleiber (Decca 466 9-2).
Performance notes:
‘Le Nozze di Figaro' plays at Taipei's National Concert Hall tonight at 7.30pm, Sunday at 2.30pm, and Tuesday (July 4) at 7.30pm. It will also be presented at the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Hsinchu County (
For ticketing information call (02) 3393-9888 or visit www.ntch.edu.tw/nso
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