Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791) composed Die Hochzeit des Figaro/The Marriage of Figaro when at the height of his creative powers. Count Almaviva’s sexual cravings and shocking self-confidence naturally received mixed reactions when the work was first performed in 1786 – ranging, apparently from storms of applause to icy distain. Never before had the dubious morals of the aristocracy been so publicly lampooned. 200 years on nobody really takes the Count’s shameful attempts at seduction very seriously. When this production, directed by the Canadian director Guillaume Bernardi, first opened in 2006/2007 it was warmly received by the audience and press thanks, in part, to the obvious fun the fine artists were having on stage.

All singers in this revival were members of the company: Kihwan Sim, who recently took part in concert performances of Maria Stuarda in the Alte Oper, singing his first Figaro, followed by Simon Bailey in the role he created in this production, Daniel Schmutzhard and  Sebastian Geyer as Count Almaviva - all members of the Ensemble. Annette Dasch (see photo) will sing the Countess in the performance on February 4th. Her guest appearance here as the Count's wife turns out to be a real "family affair because, in real life, she is married to Daniel Schmutzhard. Barbarina will be sung by the Ukrainian soprano Kateryna Kasper and German/Mexican soprano Maren Favela, both members of the Opera Studio. The other characters are being performed by members of the Ensemble who have already sung their roles in this production before, including Juanita Lascarro as the Countess and Anna Ryberg and Christiane Karg as Susanna. The first performances in this run were conducted by Constantin Trinks, General Music Director at the Darmstadt Staatstheater until 2011. He has recently appeared at the Semper Oper in Dresden, Bavarian State Opera in Munich and Opéra national de Paris for the first time and this is his debut at Oper Frankfurt. Hartmut Keil and Sebastian Zierer conduct the latter ones.

Last performance this season: April 4th, – which begins at 7pm