Le Nozze di Figaro Is Dec. 23, 2017, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The Dec. 23, 2017, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Le Nozze di Figaro by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Mozart.

Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro airs as the Dec. 23, 2017, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2017-2018 Met Opera season: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera via Facebook Dec. 9, 2017

Le Nozze di Figaro (“The Marriage of Figaro”), an insightful, comic opera about love and skirt chasers by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791), is the Dec. 23, 2017, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

The setting for Le Nozze di Figaro is a wealthy Spanish estate, Aguas-Frescas, near the exotic Andalusian city of Seville. Events unfold during one day of madness, in which a skirt-chasing count schemes to foil the marriage plans of two of the household’s servants, Figaro and Susanna.

The four-act opera begins at 1 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time). Its run time is estimated at 3 hours 21 minutes. Acts I and II span 96 minutes. An intermission of 30 minutes precedes the last two acts. Acts III and IV last for 75 minutes.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season offers 11 performances of Le Nozze di Figaro. The Saturday matinee radio broadcast is the production’s sixth performance.

Harry Bicket conducts all 11 performances. The British conductor, harpsichordist and organist was born in Liverpool, North West England. His Metropolitan Opera debut took place Dec. 2, 2004, in Rodelinda by German and British baroque composer George Frideric Handel (Feb. 23, 1685-April 14, 1759).

Rachel Willis-Sørensen appears as Rosina, Countess Almaviva, for the Saturday matinee broadcast. The American operatic soprano hails from Tri Cities, southeastern Washington, with Richland as her hometown. She debuted Dec. 4, 2014, at the Metropolitan Opera in the role of Countess Almaviva.

This season, Rachel Willis-Sørensen shares the role of the clever countess with Ailyn Pérez and Caitlin Lynch.

Ailyn Pérez was born in Chicago, Cook County, northeastern Illinois. The American operatic soprano debuted Feb. 6, 2015, at the Metropolitan Opera as Micaela in Carmen by French Romantic Era composer Georges Bizet (Oct. 25, 1838-June 3, 1875). This season, she also appears in title roles in Roméo et Juliette by French composer Charles Gounod (June 17, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893) and Thaïs by French Romantic Era composer Jules Massenet (May 12, 1842-Aug. 13, 1912).

Caitlin Lynch’s birthplace is Detroit, Wayne County, southeastern Michigan. The American soprano debuted March 4, 2013, at the Metropolitan Opera as Biancofiore in Francesca da Rimini by Italian composer Riccardo Zandonai (May 28, 1883-June 5, 1944).

The Saturday matinee broadcast features Christiane Karg as Susanna, Rosina’s maid, whose marriage to Figaro finally takes place, thanks to the Countess’s intervention. The German operatic soprano was born in Feuchtwangen, Bavaria, southeastern Germany. Her first appearance in the role, on Wednesday, Dec. 6, marks her Metropolitan Opera debut.

This season, Christiane Karg shares the role of Susanna with Nadine Sierra. The American soprano’s birthplace is Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, southeastern Florida. She debuted Dec. 2, 2015, at the Metropolitan Opera as Gilda in Rigoletto by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Serena Malfi appears as Cherubino, the count’s amorous page, for the Saturday matinee broadcast. The Italian mezzo-soprano was born in Pomigliano d’Arco, Campania region, southwestern Italy. She reprises the role from her Metropolitan Opera debut Dec. 4, 2014. This season, she also performs as Dorabella in another Mozart opera, Così fan tutte.

This season Serena Malfi shares the trouser role of Cherubino with Isabel Leonard. The American mezzo-soprano’s birthplace is New York City, New York. She debuted Sept. 25, 2007, at the Metropolitan Opera in the trouser role of Stéphano in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette.

Luca Pisaroni performs as Count Almaviva for the Saturday matinee broadcast. The Italian operatic bass-baritone was born in Ciudad Bolívar, Bolívar state, southeastern Venezuela. When he was four, his family moved to the province of Parma in Italy’s north central Emilia-Romagna region and settled in Busseto, Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi’s hometown. He debuted April 29, 2005, at the Metropolitan Opera as Publio in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito.

This season Luca Pisaroni shares the role of Count Almaviva with Mariusz Kwiecień. The Polish operatic baritone’s birthplace is Kraków, Lesser Poland region, southwestern Poland. He debuted Jan. 2, 1999, at the Metropolitan Opera as Kuligin in Káťa Kabanová by Czech composer Leoš Janáček (July 3, 1854-Aug. 12, 1928).

Adam Plachetka is the Saturday matinee broadcast’s Figaro. The Czech bass-baritone was born in Prague, northwestern Czech Republic. He debuted Feb. 4, 2015, at the Metropolitan Opera as Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. This season, he also performs as Guglielmo in another Mozart opera, Così fan tutte.

This season Adam Plachetka shares the role of Figaro with Ildar Abdrazakov. The Russian bass’s birthplace is Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan, southwestern Russia. He debuted March 1, 2004, at the Metropolitan Opera, also as Don Giovanni’s Masetto. This season, Ildar Abdrazakov also appears as Assur in Semiramide by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868).

Le Nozze di Figaro is performed as the fourth of the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s 23 Saturday matinee broadcasts. The season’s third Saturday matinee broadcast was Norma by Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (Nov. 3, 1801-Sept. 23, 1835). Norma aired Saturday, Dec. 16, at 1 p.m. EST.

The season’s fifth Saturday matinee broadcast is the Merry Widow by Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár (April 30, 1870-Oct. 24, 1948). The comic opera about marriage and money is scheduled for Dec. 30, at 1 p.m.

Le Nozze di Figaro places as the 17th most performed opera, according to the Metropolitan Opera's 2016 Repertory Report. Performance statistics through Oct. 31, 2016, tally 482 performances of Mozart's Figaro opera between first performance, Jan. 31, 1894, and the report's last reported performance, March 26, 2016.

Operabase, an online databse, rates Wolfgang Mozart as the second most popular composer in the five seasons from 2011-2012 to 2015-2016. Le Nozze di Figaro holds eighth place in a worldwide list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The takeaway for Le Nozze di Figaro as the Dec. 23, 2017, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is that the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s fourth Saturday matinee broadcast spins happy operatic endings for a household’s daylong confusion about love.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season's performances of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro revive Richard Eyre's staging, which debuted at Met Opera Sept. 22, 2014, as a new production, with costumes and sets by Rob Howell: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera via Facebook Dec. 9, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro airs as the Dec. 23, 2017, Saturday matinee broadcast during the 2017-2018 Met Opera season: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera via Facebook Dec. 9, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10159824377810533/

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season's performances of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro revive Richard Eyre's staging, which debuted at Met Opera Sept. 22, 2014, as a new production, with costumes and sets by Rob Howell: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera via Facebook Dec. 9, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10159824378215533/

For further information:

"Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16." Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en

Marriner, Derdriu. "2017-2018 Met Opera Season Opens Sept. 25 With Bellini’s Norma." Earth and Space News. Monday, Sept. 18, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/09/2017-2018-met-opera-season-opens-sept.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Norma Is the Dec. 16, 2017, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast." Earth and Space News. Monday, Dec. 11, 2017.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/12/norma-is-dec-16-2017-met-opera-saturday.html

Metropolitan Opera. "Le Nozze di Figaro: 2014–15 New Production." YouTube.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P93eqeGDFaY

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "The 2017-18 season features 3 of Mozart's beloved operas: Die Zauberflöte, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Così fan tutte." Twitter. July 25, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/889852061843693568

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro is on stage tonight, December 9 starring Christiane Karg -- Sopran, Rachel Willis-Sørensen, Serena Malfi -- Mezzosoprano, Luca Pisaroni, and Adam Plachetka. Performances through Jan 19. bit.ly/2rXSrwN Photos by Chris Lee/Metropolitan Opera." Facebook. Dec. 9, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10159824377810533/

"Performances Statistics Through October 31, 2016.” MetOpera Database > The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Database%20Opera%20Statistics.xml

“Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro.” Metropolitan Opera > On Stage 2017-2018.
Available @ http://www.metopera.org/Season/2017-18-Season/nozze-di-figaro-mozart-tickets/