Study Guide
Study Guide Contents
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Beginner's Guide to Opera
- Who's Who At the Opera
- The Lyric Opera House
- BOC Education Programs
- A Bibliography of Selected Readings
- Education Resources
2007-2008 SEASON
2006-2007 SEASON
2005-2006 SEASON
2004-2005 SEASON
2003-2004 SEASON
2002-2003 SEASON
PREVIOUS OPERAS
Le Nozze di Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Opera's Favorite City
If the operas are to be believed, late-18th century Seville was a veritable hotbed of intrigue and mistaken identity. Looking across these stories, it seems that on a typical afternoon, Figaro and Susanna were busy trying to ensnare Count Almaviva while Louisa and her governess were across town with Clara devising an overly complicated scheme to escape arranged marriages to old men, not thinking to solicit help from Don Quichotte, who was busy roaming the streets looking for giants while Leonore attempted to spring Florestan from prison and Leonora (no relation) and Alvaro hid out in the local convent after his return from fighting in Italy, when they'd all have been much better off if they'd just hung out at the bar and watched the gypsies seduce the soldiers and bullfighters.
Well over 100 operas have been set in Seville and the surrounding region. Some of the more popular ones not involving Figaro and his friends include:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Don Giovanni (1787)
A century before Figaro and Susanna took jobs with the Almaviva family, Leporello assisted Don Giovanni is his attempts to seduce every woman in Seville.
Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio (1805)
Despite having been inspired by a true story from the French Revolution, Beethoven's Leonore rescues her husband, not from the Bastille, but from a Spanish prison.
Giuseppi Verdi's La Forza del Destino (1862)
Verdi's star-crossed lovers divide their time between hiding in Andalucian convents and fighting battles in Italy.
Georges Bizet's Carmen (1875)
The first opera that comes to mind at the mention of Seville is Bizet's tale of opera's most infamous femme fatale. Filled with regional dances, folk tunes, and references to local landmarks, this dysfunctional love triangle of a soldier, a bullfighter, and a gypsy positively oozes with local Sevillian color.
Sergei Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery (1946)
Louisa and her governess devise a complicated plot to escape arranged marriage for true love. Prokofiev's delightful show is a self-conscious homage to the opera buffa world of Rossini.