The Marriage of Figaro (with an international cast) presents situations that have been experienced forever and that we all know such as deception, infidelities, friendship, forgiveness, love and heartbreak, expresses Daniela Yurrita, soprano from Guatemala who will play The Countess.
With music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and a libretto in Italian by Lorenzo da Ponte, this comic opera that reflects on political, economic and social class issues will open the curtain at the Ángela Peralta Theater on Friday, November 17th and Sunday, November 19th, at 8 pm, and 7 pm, respectively.
– It’s very cool!, exclaims Mexican bass-baritone Esteban Baltazar (Fígaro) when referring to the spectacular staging.
“It is an opera that was written in 1700 and they are the same problems of 2023, where the man cheats on the woman, that the man goes with another woman, that the man went to party with his friends and that he is spending more money with others than with the woman… Same thing, that’s great! Since 1700 it has been the same and we continue to repeat it and we will repeat it in 3040.”
Presented within the framework of the Festival Cultural Mazatlán 2023, the co-production between Vinceró Academy, Escenia Ensamble, A.C. and the Instituto Municipal de Cultura, Turismo y Arte de Mazatlán, brings together around 130 artists: soloists of various nationalities, musicians from the Camerata Mazatlán and voices from the Ángela Peralta Choir, all under the musical direction of Abdiel Vázquez and the stage direction of Ragnar Conde.
Esteban Baltazar is convinced that Mozart is the best option for those who have never attended the opera.
“If you have never seen an opera, Mozart is your best introduction because it is fun, nothing serious, this opera is not boring, it is actually fun, there are entanglements and many minds that start talking about many things, and in the end everything is resolved the same way.”
The staging will respect the original story with a contemporary adaptation, so the set design is designed to place The Marriage of Figaro in a hotel in Mazatlán.
In this regard, Emma Robertson, an American singer who will play Susanna, considers that the adaptation is very ad hoc to the original work but with a contemporary touch that brings the viewer much closer to the story.
“I imagine it especially in a hotel because the dimensions of the space allow it and also because of the clear roles that exist in a hotel, there are the owners who are the bosses, in this case they would be the count and the countess, there is the staff of the hotel…these issues do not discriminate, they happen in all strata, in all countries, and have happened at all times,” says the interpreter from the United States of America.
Esteban Baltazar (Mexico) considers it perfect that the story takes place in a hotel in Mazatlán.
“Of course, the owner of the hotel comes here! The owner wants the head of the spa floor, Figaro is the manager and he is going to marry the spa manager, and then the owner of the hotel arrives and says, What’s up with your girl? She’s very pretty, I want to be with her!… Oh wow! What do you want to be with her? So, that still happens, those things still happen.”
Rebecca de Almeida from Brazil will be Marcellina in The Marriage of Figaro.
-How would a woman from Brazil define Figaro?
– Figaro is like an everything specialist, that’s what Figaro is. Hey, do you know how to fix the door? Yes, I know! Do you know about accounting? Yes, I know! Figaro does everything and if not, he invents it for you, he solves it for you, that makes him intelligent and one step further than any other character, that’s why in the end he gets his way.
-But you will see that in this case the women take advantage of him, because his plan does not work out!, says soprano Daniela Yurrita.
Cristina Nakad (Mexico) highlights that in this piece the power dynamics (as in the game) matter, for example in chess, the piece that moves all the time is the pawn, and that happens with Figaro and Susanna, they are so down the social ladder who have too much movement, and therefore have the need to be as intelligent and assertive and brilliant as they are, and for this reason the opera was banned in Europe throughout life, because it expresses material reality that the less you have, the more you have to do to survive and then the people at the bottom are much more prepared, much more intelligent and much more… Can I say rude things? …Much cooler than the people above!
Tickets $400.00, $350.00, $300.00 and $250.00 available at the Ángela Peralta Theater box office or at the digital box office on WhatsApp 669 120 0020.
