Bartolo, portrayed with vim and vigor by Valerio Lanchas, and Marcellina (Elizabeth Bishop) are only too happy to get in the way of Figaro’s happiness, hatching a plot to prevent the marriage in the aria “La Vendetta” (“Vengeance”).

But their plans are soon cast in doubt as we learn that the Count, performed by baritone Joshua Hopkins, has lecherous designs on Figaro’s bride-to-be-even though the Count has recently abolished the “first night” law that would permit him to do so.ĭr. The curtain then opens to reveal Figaro and his betrothed, Susanna, who are making preparations for their upcoming nuptials: she trying on her veil and he measuring a space for the bridal bed. Photo by Scott Suchman.įrom the first triumphant swells of an overture famous in its own right, before the curtain even opens, Conductor James Gaffigan and the Washington National Opera (WNO) make it clear that we are in for a musical treat. Joshua Hopkins (Count Almaviva), Lisette Oropesa (Susanna), and Amanda Majeski (Countess Almaviva). In this zany production, Director Peter Kazaras has brought new life to one of Mozart’s most frequently performed operas. And once the characters have done all that, the cycle starts anew.

“Perdono no merita chi agli altri non da.” So say the words carved into the wall above the stage in the Washington National Opera’s stunning production of The Marriage of Figaro (Le Nozze de Figaro) at the Kennedy Center: “Those who do not forgive do not deserve forgiveness.” And indeed, Le Nozze is all about forgiveness-as well as deception, betrayal, hypocrisy, and a fair bit of cross-dressing.

The marriage of figaro seattle opera