College of Musical Arts presents 'The Marriage of Figaro'

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's comic opera "The Marriage of Figaro" will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday (Nov. 5) and at 3 p.m. Sunday (Nov. 7) by the College of Musical Arts' Opera Theater.

The opera will be performed in English and the arias in Italian with English subtitles in Kobacker Hall of the Moore Musical Arts Center.

"Figaro" premiered in 1786. It is one of the most frequently performed and best-loved operas of all time. The opera is based on a play by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, which was banned in France by Louis XVI. The librettist is Lorenzo da Ponte, a frequent collaborator of Mozart's.

The opera begins where Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" leaves off. Figaro, a valet interested in improving his position, and his fiancée, Susanna, a chambermaid, are planning their marriage.

The comedy is made complicated by the young, passionate page Cherubino; the meddling Marcellina; the cantankerous Dr. Bartolo; a drunken gardener, and Basilio, the bizarre music master. In the center of the action is the Count, who has become bored with his marriage and frustrated in his attempts to control the events in his life.

Bowling Green's production of the opera is directed by Jennifer Hilbish Schuetz, an instructor of opera. The orchestra, comprised of members of the Bowling Green Philharmonia, will be conducted by Emily Freeman Brown, director of orchestral activities.

Tickets for "The Marriage of Figaro" are $8 for senior citizens and students and $10 for other adults. A special date-night package, including a flower at the box office, is $16 for BGSU students.

For more information, call 2-8171.