What to Listen for in THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO

Today's blog post is from an article in our 2014 Opera Insider Festival Resource Guide, written by Education & Community Engagement Coordinator Emily Murdock.

Music & Class Status

Mozart’s librettist for The Marriage of Figaro was Lorenzo Da Ponte. This was their first collaboration (of three), and it’s often said that Mozart and Da Ponte were the Dream Team of opera. Da Ponte adapted Beaumarchais’s 1784 play La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro into a tight, clever libretto. But since Da Ponte was well aware that Beaumarchais had gotten into hot water over his politically charged play, he was careful to avoid any potentially inciting scenes and lines in his libretto. Instead, this controversial content played out in Mozart’s music. 

In the Classical era (as we now know it) of opera, it was conventional for the noble and upper class characters to sing a recitativo accompagnato, or accompanied recitative, before their major aria. Recitativo accompagnato is recitative that is accompanied by the full orchestra, not just the harpsichord and basso continuo (usually played by the cello). It gives the impression that the singer is commanding the response of the orchestra or vice versa – very much a dialogue between the two musical entities. It was not conventional for a character of a lower class to sing this particular form. But in The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart gave all four of his main characters – the Count, the Countess, Figaro, and Susanna – accompanied recitative and arias. This put the servants on equal footing as their masters – an idea that was blatantly obvious in the French play, but made more subtle in the opera. Consider also the order in which Mozart has the characters singing their arias:  the Count in Act 3, scene 4 (“Hai già vinta la causa”…”Vedrò mentre io sospiro”); the Countess in Act 3, scene 8 (“E Susanna non vien”….”Dove sono”); Figaro in Act 4, scene 8 (“Tutto è disposto”…”Aprite un pó quegl’occchi”); and Susanna finally in Act 4, scene 10 (“Giunse alfin il momento”…”Deh vieni non tardar”). Does this order mean that the servants get the last word? And in addition to that, do the women get the last word over the men? This is a possibility, and the idea very much underlines the themes in the play.

Another convention that Mozart broke is through his use of rustic meters in unexpected contexts. Rhythmic meter in music is the organization of music into regularly recurring measures or bars of stressed and unstressed "beats.” “Rustic” meters were those that had the feeling of triplets, like 6/8. They were to be used exclusively for lower class characters in certain situations, like peasant dances or shepherds singing, for example. Possibly to put his two heroines on more equal footing, Mozart uses the 6/8 meter in the famous duet between Susanna and the Countess, “Sull’aria”…“Che soave zeffiretto,” when they are writing a letter together to deceive the Count. 

It may be one of the most beautiful and serene-sounding duets of all time, yet it is in the meter of a lower class. 

Mozart does this again in Susanna’s aria “Deh vieni non tardar” near the end of the opera. After singing her “noble” accompanied recitative, Susanna sings a beautiful aria about anticipating love – set in a rustic meter while she is dressed as the Countess. Conversely, Figaro’s aria “Se vuol ballare” in Act 1 is set to a noble dance meter, the courtly minuet in 3/4. 

Figaro sings the words “If he wants to dance, my dear little Count, I’ll play the guitar for him, indeed.” The fact that a servant sings these impertinent words to a noble dance meter clearly turns the tables on who is in control in this lower class/upper class relationship. These kinds of musical nuances may be lost on today’s audiences, but they were certainly pushing boundaries in Mozart’s time.

Check out the 2014 Opera Insider for the rest of Emily's article, as well as history on the productions and what inspired the composers and librettists to write them, interviews with the artists, conversation-starting questions and activities….even a musical version of Sudoku!

Central City Opera Begins 2014 Festival with a (Dynamite) Bang

The mining town of Central City runs reliably like clockwork: ominous clouds followed by only light rain between 2:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon, then a bustling Eureka Street at 5:00, and finally a starry sky at midnight above the Rockies. On June 28, however, there was only sunlight, the traffic consisted of waltzing fathers and daughters, and the night was starry per usual, but this time alight with the dazzling cast and crew of Central City Opera’s The Marriage of Figaro.

Opening Night for Central City Opera’s 2014 Festival ran without a hitch. Denverites enjoyed the balmy weather as they arrived in Central City on Saturday afternoon in summer dresses and tuxedos. Children and grandparents, patrons and Guild members sauntered up and down Eureka Street, annually closed off for the opening’s festivities where cameras snap and champagne pops. The historic Johnson House and budding Teller House Garden hosted the opera patrons as they lounged in the sun before the day’s events began.

The Opera House basks in Saturday's sun on its 2014 Festival's Opening Day.

The familiar dinging of the Opera Bell rang for the first time this season at 4:50 PM – Festival Staffer Austin Abernathy announced that the Flower Girl presentation for the Yellow Rose Ball, Colorado’s oldest debutante ceremony, would begin in ten minutes. Powerful as the Opera Bell is, it was the booming dynamite blast at 5:00 PM from the staff of Hidee Gold Mine that truly kicked off the Festival. Chairman Emeritus Lanny Martin then introduced each of the 24 Flower Girls as they gracefully descended from the top floor of the Teller House down into its garden. Donning white gloves, the teenagers looked lovely in lavender as they assembled one by one in front of the Opera House, accompanied by their dapper escorts, for a photo op.

The 24 Flower Girls and their escorts pose in front of
the Opera House for a photo shoot.

Finally, General/Artistic Director Pelham "Pat" Pearce opened the Opera House and welcomed everyone to the 2014 Festival to near-dynamite applause. Pearce then directed everyone’s attention to the steps of St. James Methodist Church where the ushers sang their cheeky preshow tune. “We’re the ushers who show you to your seat, then nonchalantly we step upon your feet,” they sang, marching to the front of the Opera House.

Once the ushers finished their song, Central City Mayor Ron Engels presented the Opera Bell to Nancy Parker, Central City Opera’s current president. Parker rang the bell which signaled the St. James’ chimes to open Eureka Street for the Yellow Rose Waltz. Escorts then presented the Flower Girls to their fathers. Fathers and daughters began waltzing, then mothers joined in, and finally the rest of the guests until Eureka Street was swaying in three/four time, a harmony of lavender dresses, black tuxedos, and glimmering jewelry.

Festival Services Manager Allison Taylor (blue dress)
poses with this year's ushers/interns.

Guests next enjoyed a sumptuous meal (provided by Kevin Taylor Restaurant Group) in the Teller House before The Marriage of Figaro’s 8:00 curtain. At intermission, Flower Girls handed out yellow nosegays to patrons so that they could be tossed onto the stage during curtain call. By the time lead performers Michael Sumuel and Anna Christy (as lovelorn servants Figaro and Susanna) took their bows, the stage and orchestra pit below were flooded with flowers. The cast – joined by conductor Adrian Kelly, director Alessandro Talevi, and his talented team of designers – beamed as some tried to snatch the whizzing nosegays.

“[It’s a joy] watching the principal artists rehearse and perform. As a young artist, I love observing how they interact with the director, maestro, fellow principals, crew, and chorus,” said Kelsey Park, a Studio Artist who plays a maid and other ensemble roles in Figaro. “We also have a blast backstage – getting ready in the dressing rooms is an exciting adventure. We ladies enjoy a lot of laughs.”

Fathers waltz with their daughters, the Flower Girls,
on Eureka Street on Opening Night.

Following the performance, the company congregated on the second floor of Williams' Stables for the after party. Still maintaining Figaro’s 1920s Spain concept, Lifestyles Catering provided a themed meal complete with vegetable paella and panzanella salad with sangria, concocted by Events Assistant Sarah Harrison complete with oranges, lemons, and limes.

Harrison had the laborious task of planning the party and making sure that everyone, from the interns to the principal performers, enjoyed themselves in the stables-turned-dancehall. “I had a lot of various details in my head from logistics to food and decorations, so putting everything together and finalizing everything was definitely the most challenging part. Seeing it all gradually come together has been incredibly rewarding,” Harrison said.

The Marriage of Figaro continues through July 26th. The second Festival production, Dead Man Walking, opens July 5th and runs in repertory through the 25th.

Preview of our Singers from our First Dress Rehearsal of FIGARO!

The cast of The Marriage of Figaro is quite excited to finally be in costume! Susan Kulkarni did a beautiful job designing the 1920s inspired costumes, and we're excited to share them with a live audience on Opening Night, June 28. Until then, take a sneak peak at our social media-savvy singers tweeting, Facebooking and Instagram-ing themselves in costume backstage!

Almost orchestra dress rehearsal time @ccityopera for #Figaro #CCO2014
— Michael Sumuel (@MichaelSumuel) June 25, 2014

From Joseph Gaines, Tenor's Facebook page

Thanks for viewing, and we hope to see you at one of our 2014 Festival performances!

Central City Opera Perks Up: Gift Shop Now Sells Cholua Brothers' Coffee

Central City Opera patrons are used to the gift shop’s usual souvenirs. Homemade fudge, jewelry, and t-shirts with the summer's shows printed on them comprise the habitual goods. There are even some ornate and educational coffee table books, from Opera in the Rockies to Theatre of Dreams, yet there has never been any coffee. This year, the 2014 Festival is finally getting a little more caffeinated.

Brothers Dave and Anthony Cholua never meant to kick-start a coffee business. “Coffee roasting was just a hobby,” spokesman and co-owner Dave Cholua said. The brothers and their family always enjoyed crafting homemade coffee liquor, a creamy recipe gleaned from their ancestors, but their business never went farther than gifting the liquor to friends at Christmastime. Well, until they started experimenting with coffee roasting.

Brothers Dave (left) and Anthony Cholua display their
Naturally Flavored, Medium Roast and French Roast coffees in their store.

“People would tell us, ‘Do you realize you have the smoothest, boldest taste in the coffee business?’” Cholua said, and so the brothers considered opening their own company. Anthony had enough saved from bartending in Black Hawk, which also allowed him to perfect the liquor recipe, and Dave had the marketing know-how as a graphic designer. The business idea percolated into Cholua Bros. Mining Co., their fully realized and self-owned coffee store located in a centurial barn in Black Hawk. The brothers also enjoy recreational mining – their family emigrated from Poland in the 1800’s searching for gold – and often sport helmets and Western attire reminiscent of the gold rushes, hence the company’s title. “We get people trying to sell us mining equipment,” Cholua humorously lamented, “so we subtitled the business, ‘An Old Time Coffee Store.’”

The brothers’ rather spontaneous career shift became an even quicker reality. “The city of Black Hawk welcomed us with open arms,” a grateful Cholua said. The brothers had been selling their products online since last May, but when Black Hawk approved their lease they put the business in the barn, opening their doors on October 20.

Cholua Bros. Mining Co. is located on 470 Gregory Street in Black Hawk
in a historic barn that is more than one hundred years old.

The coffee beans hail from Brazil, but the brothers credit their natural flavors – vanilla, hazelnut, and pure caramel – and the high altitude roasting to their steaming success. The mountainous elevation and cool Rocky air are ideal for roasting as it produces a quicker coffee at a lower temperature, which prevents scorching. “We started roasting at 10,000 feet,” Cholua said. At such a high elevation, the brothers may be making coffee at the highest altitude in the United States. “That was our ore,” he smiled.

While Cholua Bros. Mining Co. also sells local barbeque sauces, pickled green beans, and even gold canning kits made by a professional geologist, the brothers emphasize that they run a coffee store and not a coffee shop. There are tables to sit at, but coffee is only sold in bags. If a customer wants to sample a flavor, however, the cup is always on the house. By this fall, one year from their grand opening, the brothers also hope to sell their famous coffee liquor. “It makes Kahlúa taste like cough medicine,” Cholua joked. Perhaps this will be another treat sold in the Central City Opera Gift Shop for the 2015 Festival.

“Two of the things I’ve heard we needed are ice cream and coffee, and now we have both,” said Wanda Larson, Central City Opera’s Office Administrator and Gift Shop Buyer. “We love having local vendors in the gift shop; I’m very excited to have them.” Larson also added that 100% of the gift shop’s proceeds always return to the Opera.

Stop by the Central City Opera Gift Shop beginning June 28
to buy some of the Cholua brothers' coffee!

Larson heard about Cholua Bros. Mining Co. in a newspaper and has since seen the pair around Gilpin County at various community events, from the Black Hawk Block Party to Madam Lou Bunch Day in Central City. “Hammond’s Candies [in Denver] is also selling our product, and they’re going to try out our liquor for their fudge. It’s a pleasure working with Central City Opera and Hammond’s Candies; these are two vintage landmarks,” Cholua said.

The brothers look forward to appearing at Central City Opera on June 28, the 2014 Festival’s Yellow Rose Ball and opening night of The Marriage of Figaro. They will also be present at each opera performance to sell their product at intermission and meet local patrons.

More than caffeinating, the brothers’ fresh coffee is also rejuvenating. “A little while ago I got a message from a woman in Michigan while in the Indianapolis airport on my way home from a friend’s wedding,” Cholua shared. “She said her husband has Stage IV esophagus cancer and hasn’t been able to drink coffee in two years, but she bought some of our coffee while out here. ‘He’s gone through half a bag!’ she told us and then ordered three bags online. Maybe it’s less acidic…we’re not coffee experts, but that was a pretty cool story.”

For now, the brothers are just happy to have satisfied customers and a uniquely crafted product. “It’s the most labor of love we’ve ever had,” Cholua said. “If we can make enough to retire, we’re the luckiest guys. And maybe that’s why it’s been so successful, because we love it so much.”

The Central City Opera Gift Shop is located in the historic Teller House just downhill of the Opera House in Central City. For The Sound of Music our gift shop will be located in the lobby of the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

Central City Celebrates Annual Madam Lou Bunch Day

Central City is lovably quirky.

It’s known simultaneously for its singing Opera House and dinging casinos. Its elevation is nearly 8,500 feet, placing it among the highest cities in the country. And once a year it’s host to dames on beds being pushed around by townsfolk in drag.

Interns McEntee, Abernathy and Ting posing in costume
in the Opera Garden before the Madam Lou Bunch parade commenced

Madam Lou Bunch Day is arguably Central City’s most unique event. Bunch was a notorious prostitute in the 1880s who allegedly grew too wide to physically leave her brothel’s brass bed. To annually commemorate one of Central City’s most colorful characters, locals dress up in costumes ranging from stuffy Victorian to saucy barmaid. Additionally, many compete in the Bed Races where a pair of boys push ladies-on-beds-on-wheels up and down Main Street. The teams often dress in a costumed theme, with prizes for the fastest teams and slickest costumes.

Ladies of Central City dress up as brothel women
for Madam Lou Bunch Day and pose on the bed that was used in the races

Eight teams competed in the Bed Races this year, all representing local businesses from Century Casino to Central City Opera. This year three CCO interns (cross-)dressed as characters from the upcoming three shows in the 2014 Festival. Props Intern Austin Abernathy owned the garconne look with his flappers dress for The Marriage of Figaro, which will be set in the 1920s. Assistant House Manager Dahlia Ting donned prison garb (and a myriad of tattoos) to showcase Dead Man Walking, and Marketing/Public Relations Assistant Billy McEntee dressed as a nun for The Sound of Music.

Abernathy pushes McEntee and Ting uphill during the back nine of the Bed Races

While these dynamic garments sadly did not merit the Best Costumes award, the three youngsters did take home the Maiden Voyage ribbon for their first time competing. The speedy workers at Johnny Z's Casino, the reigning champions, came in first place and won $300. Nevertheless, the CCO racers succeeded in advertising their upcoming productions and entertaining townsfolk with their enthusiasm, irreverent costumes and loopy steering.

Susan Kulkarni hops across the pond to design The Marriage of Figaro

A sneak peek of The Marriage of Figaro costumes hanging in Central City Opera's Cast House dressing rooms with designer Susan Kulkarni

Susan Kulkarni flutters around the Opera House's second floor. She checks in on actors' fittings, holds design conversations with the wigs and makeup supervisor, and scoots costume pieces left and right on one of the floor's numerous z-racks. Always abuzz with work, Kulkarni continually remains tranquil and pleases others with her chirpy voice. She may be from England, but Kulkarni is making her nest in Colorado as The Marriage of Figaro's costume designer, the first show in Central City Opera's 2014 Festival.

Not only is it her first time living in the United States, but it's also the first time she's costume designing a major full-length opera. But don't let all the firsts fool you; Kulkarni is a seasoned and versatile designer. Her website boasts an impressive amount of experience in theatre, dance, film, and television for such a fresh-faced artist. Opera is just the next project on Kulkarni's list of theatrical mediums to conquer. 

Costume Designer Susan Kulkarni
Does this maid's outfit remind you of any popular television show? Stay tuned!

"It's a funny thing because a lady at the National [Theatre in London] recommended me to [director Alessandro Talevi]," she said. "It turned out when he wrote my number in his phone that we actually had worked together eleven years ago on a tiny little opera, so we did know each other but in passing. He said, 'Oh, Susan, great!'" 

Kulkarni has designed upwards of 60 costumes for The Marriage of Figaro, opening on June 28 at the Central City Opera House. Costume designers often yearn to create each dress, undergarment, and accessory from scratch in order to align a unified composition. More often, however, time and money get in the way. "It always comes down to budget," Kulkarni said. "It can cost $1,000 just to make a jacket. It's an expensive business." Instead of building each piece, designers frequently borrow costumes from other companies and then rework them. Luckily for Kulkarni (and Central City Opera), many of this show's costumes will be borrowed from the hit British television show Downton Abbey. 

Kulkarni's costume sketch for Susannah in Act I, The Marriage of Figaro

Costume sketch of the Count

Kulkarni served as an assistant costume designer during season two and was able to pull some strings to borrow a few costumes. Opera patrons will have to play a bit of "Where's Waldo" while watching The Marriage of Figaro to try and spy the original pieces. Though she calls her connection to Downton Abbey "slightly nepotistic," Kulkarni simply found work as many people do in the arts: with equal doses of diligence and moxie. "I had a contact who knew the costume designer there, and I set myself up with her and said, 'Hello!'"  

Though she has taken on other projects since Downton Abbey, Kulkarni remains proud of the show's enduring success even here in the States. "In England, if you say [Downton Abbey] everyone knows what it is, and it feels like it's the same here. [Americans] appreciate period dramas; it's great that it's been embraced." Fortunately, The Marriage of Figaro is another period piece that will flaunt Kulkarni's detailed design. Talevi has decided to set the show in 1920s antebellum Spain. This allows Kulkarni to dabble with glitzy flapper costumes and unadorned servant ones alike, reflecting a time in Spain when some embraced bobbed hair and lower waistlines while others grasped onto turn-of-the-century traditions.

Costume sketch of the Countess

Designing dozens of costumes for The Marriage of Figaro has certainly kept Kulkarni busy, but she still manages to enjoy the sights of Central City during her stay here. "It's really refreshing to just leave your home and go for a hike in the mountains. I'm really enjoying it," she smiled. Given the staggering altitude on her morning hikes, Kulkarni is learning firsthand the necessity of breath control in opera. "We're using a lot of stiff collars, so during fittings we've ascertained if we're going to choke the singers to death," she joked. "But designing for opera is an absolute delight because you have a team of people who really enjoy what they're doing; there's a lot of passion here."

Want more of the inside scoop? Join us for Opera Inside Out, Tuesday, June 17th in Central City. Tickets are just $10 and include a performance by our Ensemble Artists as well as a behind-the-scenes tour. The Marriage of Figaro runs June 28 to July 26.