A Sunday afternoon at the opera! Another visit to the Broadway Cinema here in Nottingham to see a live stream from the New York Met. This time it was The Marriage of Figaro - a work we have seen so many times that I swear we could act as stand-ins should any of the stars be indisposed! But of course, as with all Mozart, no matter how many times one hears a work or sees an opera each one is different - there are new themes to explore, new "takes" on characters, new interpretations of music and narrative to enjoy - and this performance from the Met was no different; original, inspiring, innovative, exquisite, enriching and hugely enjoyable. And when the final curtain came we, like the rest of the audience, both applauded and sat back breathless and emotionally drained.
Mozart's great work is not just a silly, humorous romp - although it is that! It has, running through it, a profound and serious message. When, almost three centuries ago, the great man composed it, its message of equality and revolution, of the little man and woman fighting back and overcoming the aristocracy was not lost on those who watched and heard it. And, in that spirit, this production from the Met was just as relevant for today's divided world; a work that was born in and in part gave birth to the Enlightenment brought home the contradictions and ills of our modern world and reminded us that even today with cleverness, faith and forgiveness the Goliath like demagogues of the 21st century can be overthrown by the little David.
As an incidental opening of the live stream we were shown a video of the Met cast singing the Ukrainian National Anthem before a performance and I wondered if there was any intention on the part of the Casting Director when we saw that the part of Susanna (around whom the whole plot is focused) was to be sung by the stunning Ukrainian soprano Olga Kulchynska. I hope it was a considered choice and not simply a happy coincidence. It was a choice, I hope, made to reflect our divided times and send a powerful message of castigation to Trump and Putin whilst at the same time, and in the spirit of the opera, honouring the little nation struggling against the mighty wrongs of contemporary of Moscow and Washington. And if, perhaps, the Presidents of America and Russia watched the live stream then I trust that they were suitably shamed - although somehow I doubt that. I'm sure that Russia's President Putin is a regular and well versed visitor to the opera and would understand (but probably ignore) the message(s) of Figaro. I fear, however, that they would be lost on the intellect and moral compass of Trump, a gross, uncouth and bombastic man of little learning or understanding and with much to be modest about - most of all his intellect, morality and, if his behaviour at the Pope's recent funeral is any guide, his ability to act appropriately or even stay awake.
As we watched the opening credits I noticed that the opera was produced by Richard Eyre, and my thoughts went back 50 or 60 years. When Pat and I first came to live in Nottingham in the early 1960s the "in place" to go was (and still is) Nottingham Playhouse then, undoubtedly, the premier repertory company in the land. Every month or so we would attend the "Student Preview Night " of each new production. These were effectively the dress rehearsal performances but cheap nights out for us poor students. In those long gone days the Playhouse was under the stewardship of the great John Neville and then a young Richard Eyre. We saw young actors who would become the great actors of our nation: a youthful Ian McKellen, a diminutive and wonderful Judi Dench, the superb Eileen Atkins, and the hugely talented Jonathan Pryce...and many others - all taking their first steps on the road to national and international stardom. As I saw Richard Eyre's name on the Broadway screen I was taken back to those magical nights and times and pondered that now, as I near the end of my life, I was seeing his name again coming all the way from one of the world's great opera houses - all the way back to me here in Nottingham. A lot of water has passed under the bridge for both of us in these intervening years!
So, here we were in Nottingham watching something occurring in New York. The music, was composed for an audience three centuries ago by an Austrian - Mozart - and the words written by Lorenzo da Ponte, an Italian. The lead soprano was Ukrainian, the producer English, and the hero of the opera, Figaro, was a black American. The part of the Countess, one of the great operatic roles and whose aria "Dove sono" is one of the great operatic works all sopranos aspire to sing was Federica Lombardi, an Italian. The Count was a Canadian and Cherubino a Chinese American. And conducting the Met Orchestra was a German - Joana Mallwitz. And if one looked at the lesser roles: singing, orchestral, stage production etc then many, many more nations, beliefs and ideas are represented. A real cast of nations and cultures telling a tale that in its day not only entertained but formed opinions and influenced national and international events. Composed in 1786 the opera is inextricably linked with the French Revolution and the development of our modern western democratic world.
I do hope that Donald Trump found the time to get along to his local cinema to watch this live stream or, if he was in New York, that he nipped down the road from his pad in Trump Tower to the Met to see the action live. If he did then he might have learned something about bringing people of all nations together and of the ideas that were the very basis of the establishment of his own country, America - its ideals, its politics and its belief in democracy - for they are at the very heart of Figaro and the early American Founding Fathers would have got Mozart's message as they drew up their Constitution and arranged an infant democratic society - a constitution and democarcy that Donald Trump is hell bent on holding to ridicule and ultimately destroying.
We live in an age where technology can and does take us to the far reaches of the world and enables us to understand people and places. We live in a world where we can jump on a plane or pick up our mobile or surf the internet and be instantly connected to far off loved ones or to people very different from us. And if all this teaches us anything and if great opera like Figaro has a message it is that whatever and wherever we are we are all human and we all feel, bleed, laugh, cry, fear, love and despair of the same things - whether we live in New York, Nottingham, Ukraine, Moscow, Austria, Italy, Germany, or Canada, or whether we are black, white, Chinese, Muslim, Christian, or no faith at all. All opera, whether it be a light hearted romp as is Figaro or a tale of stirring, overwhelming emotions and gravitas like Madame Butterfly is concerned with the important things of life, of human existence: love, death, hate, loss, desire, integrity, fear, joy, life, regret, forgiveness.......... and Figaro explores all these themes through Mozart's glorious music and da Ponte's wonderful libretto.
In a world where Trump wishes to divide and sow discontent for his own insouciant self satisfaction and perceived solipsistic glory he needs to learn the message of love, brother and sisterhood, fraternity, humanity and forgiveness that are at the heart the music, the words and the plot of Figaro.
