When Figaro goes Dutch, the streaming is free

In 1781, Emperor Joseph II abolished serfdom, ensuring servants like Figaro and Susanna of some civil freedoms, including marriage. Mozart and his librettist Da Ponte reflect on changing times and the Count and Countess learn lessons in love and life.

Opera Ballet Vlaanderen streams its new production to to Slippedisc readers, courtesy of OperaVision.   Director Tom Goossens interleaves the Italian libretto with his own imaginative Dutch. The conductor Marie Jacquot is a Mozart specialist. Together they navigate Nozze’s comedy and tragedy, virtuosity, and elaborate twists. As spirited as the opera itself, this is an artistic team to shake up our conventional expectations; like Mozart and Da Ponte themselves, they are respectfully sending up a passing generation. With them, we can ultimately rejoice in Mozart’s message of love, forgiveness and hope.

The opera is sung in Italian with subtitles in English, Italian and Dutch.