COMPLETE [PLAY] The Follies of a Day; OR, The Marriage of Figaro (in English)-mas

Aligator · Post by **Aligator** » September 23rd, 2021, 6:40 pm

I've just noticed that Agnes has a couple of lines in Act 1, also. Will I need another file for this?

LCaulkins · Post by **LCaulkins** » September 23rd, 2021, 7:30 pm

Aligator wrote: ↑September 23rd, 2021, 6:40 pm I've just noticed that Agnes has a couple of lines in Act 1, also. Will I need another file for this?

Yes - thank you for noticing. I've made that section for you.

Aligator · Post by **Aligator** » September 23rd, 2021, 11:38 pm

LCaulkins wrote: ↑September 23rd, 2021, 7:30 pm I've made that section for you.

Thanks for that.

LCaulkins · Post by **LCaulkins** » September 24th, 2021, 8:43 am

JHedrick wrote: ↑September 23rd, 2021, 4:08 pm Here is the Courier/Omnes for act V along with Omnes for act I and the prologue.

https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/folliesfigaro_courier_1.mp3 [0:30]

https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/folliesfigaro_courier_5.mp3 [0:49]

https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/folliesfigaro_prologue.mp3 [2:14]

Very nice job with everything, Jim. Thanks so much!

Post by **ToddHW** » September 25th, 2021, 6:43 am

May I read Figaro (in English)?

Thanks, Todd

LCaulkins · Post by **LCaulkins** » September 25th, 2021, 7:38 am

ToddHW wrote: ↑September 25th, 2021, 6:43 am May I read Figaro (in English)?

Thanks, Todd

Yes! Thank you, Todd

JoannaHoyt · Post by **JoannaHoyt** » September 26th, 2021, 2:12 pm

Here's Marcelina:
https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/folliesfigaro_marcelina_1.mp3 (6:01)
https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/folliesfigaro_marcelina_2.mp3 (0:16)
https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/folliesfigaro_marcelina_3.mp3 (3:19)
https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/folliesfigaro_marcelina_4.mp3 (1:18)
https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/folliesfigaro_marcelina_5.mp3 (0:42)

I read the Omnes lines in Act 5. I didn't in Act I, because unless I've missed something (which is distinctly possible) I left the stage fairly early in the act and didn't re-enter when the large group came in to sing the Count's virtues and the Omnes lines were spoken.

LCaulkins · Post by **LCaulkins** » September 26th, 2021, 3:53 pm

JoannaHoyt wrote: ↑September 26th, 2021, 2:12 pm Here's Marcelina:
https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/folliesfigaro_marcelina_1.mp3 (6:01)
https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/folliesfigaro_marcelina_2.mp3 (0:16)
https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/folliesfigaro_marcelina_3.mp3 (3:19)
https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/folliesfigaro_marcelina_4.mp3 (1:18)
https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/folliesfigaro_marcelina_5.mp3 (0:42)

I read the Omnes lines in Act 5. I didn't in Act I, because unless I've missed something (which is distinctly possible) I left the stage fairly early in the act and didn't re-enter when the large group came in to sing the Count's virtues and the Omnes lines were spoken.

Boom! Thanks for getting these in so fast! All files are PL OK

And your handling of Omnes 1 makes sense.

JoannaHoyt · Post by **JoannaHoyt** » September 27th, 2021, 2:59 pm

Thanks for the prompt PL, and for your help in role selection! And for putting up this play... it's quite fun in itself, and reading for this also prompted me to listen to/watch the operatic version (with subtitles), which I enjoyed greatly despite having assumed that the folks around me who said opera was screechy, silly, and annoying were right. (Okay, screechy and silly, but also very satisfying...)

LCaulkins · Post by **LCaulkins** » September 27th, 2021, 3:10 pm

JoannaHoyt wrote: ↑September 27th, 2021, 2:59 pm Thanks for the prompt PL, and for your help in role selection! And for putting up this play... it's quite fun in itself, and reading for this also prompted me to listen to/watch the operatic version (with subtitles), which I enjoyed greatly despite having assumed that the folks around me who said opera was screechy, silly, and annoying were right. (Okay, screechy and silly, but also very satisfying...)

Glad to have you!

I did chuckle. I'm not a big-time opera officianado, but I do know the silliness, in particular, varies greatly depending on the opera. The Figaro opera is one that was created with rollicking buffoonery in mind, so it does abound with craziness!

alanmapstone · Post by **alanmapstone** » September 27th, 2021, 5:39 pm

LCaulkins wrote: ↑September 27th, 2021, 3:10 pm
JoannaHoyt wrote: ↑September 27th, 2021, 2:59 pm Thanks for the prompt PL, and for your help in role selection! And for putting up this play... it's quite fun in itself, and reading for this also prompted me to listen to/watch the operatic version (with subtitles), which I enjoyed greatly despite having assumed that the folks around me who said opera was screechy, silly, and annoying were right. (Okay, screechy and silly, but also very satisfying...)
Glad to have you!
I did chuckle. I'm not a big-time opera officianado, but I do know the silliness, in particular, varies greatly depending on the opera. The Figaro opera is one that was created with rollicking buffoonery in mind, so it does abound with craziness!

Hi
I know the opera version of this well, having once sung in the chorus of it as well as seeing it many times. Although it is obviously meant to be a comedy or farce it does have serious themes about the rights of the nobility to treat servants as property (i.e. like slaves) and abuse them as they like, including sexually abusing the young female servants. These themes were strong enough to attract the attention of the censors and get Beaumarchais imprisoned. Mozart also had trouble with the censors in Vienna.

As to the music I think that, like most of Mozart, it is among the finest ever written

LCaulkins · Post by **LCaulkins** » September 27th, 2021, 5:46 pm

alanmapstone wrote: ↑September 27th, 2021, 5:39 pm
Hi
I know the opera version of this well, having once sung in the chorus of it as well as seeing it many times. Although it is obviously meant to be a comedy or farce it does have serious themes about the rights of the nobility to treat servants as property (i.e. like slaves) and abuse them as they like, including sexually abusing the young female servants. These themes were strong enough to attract the attention of the censors and get Beaumarchais imprisoned. Mozart also had trouble with the censors in Vienna.

As to the music I think that, like most of Mozart, it is among the finest ever written

Absolutely! And I bet a lot of people know several Mozart pieces from Figaro without realizing the origin. I'm sure he never would have been able to present the opera without having so much high humor in it, because of those underlying themes.

alanmapstone · Post by **alanmapstone** » September 28th, 2021, 1:33 am

Basil act 1

https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/folliesfigaro_basil_1.mp3

I have tried to make him sound as lecherous as I could

JoannaHoyt · Post by **JoannaHoyt** » September 28th, 2021, 4:50 am

alanmapstone wrote: ↑September 27th, 2021, 5:39 pm
Hi
I know the opera version of this well, having once sung in the chorus of it as well as seeing it many times. Although it is obviously meant to be a comedy or farce it does have serious themes about the rights of the nobility to treat servants as property (i.e. like slaves) and abuse them as they like, including sexually abusing the young female servants. These themes were strong enough to attract the attention of the censors and get Beaumarchais imprisoned. Mozart also had trouble with the censors in Vienna.

As to the music I think that, like most of Mozart, it is among the finest ever written

Sorry, Alan. It was rude and silly of me to post slightingly about opera.

(And I'm very impressed that you've sung in the chorus for this!)
I've been thinking more about this... I grew up with people who understood austerity/restraint to be essential to good taste and beauty, and who disparaged opera for abounding in ornamentation, over-the-top emotion, implausible plots, and very high notes. This was my first time listening to an opera, and all those things seemed to be true of it, in a way that would be somewhat easy to parody. And while part of my mind stood back and noted that, part was just delighting in the music (and in the over-the-top emotion), and recognizing another kind of loveliness than what I had previously recognized. I certainly mean to come back for more. And I'll be more careful how I speak.

And yes, it hadn't escaped me that in this story there's a triumph over sexual predation (though I don't quite picture the Count changing his ways across the board), and that the usual power relationships get upended--the servant has prevailed against the master, and the women against the men.

I wonder, too, if the changes from the play to the opera--if I followed correctly, the opera leaves out the bit about Rosina's prior liaison with Dr Bartolo, and also makes it clear that Figaro know it's Susanna in the Countess' clothes when he propositions her-- reflected Mozart's story preferences or an attempt to mollify the censors...

jennlea · Post by **jennlea** » September 28th, 2021, 10:37 am

JoannaHoyt wrote: ↑September 28th, 2021, 4:50 am Sorry, Alan. It was rude and silly of me to post slightingly about opera. (And I'm very impressed that you've sung in the chorus for this!)
I've been thinking more about this... I grew up with people who understood austerity/restraint to be essential to good taste and beauty, and who disparaged opera for abounding in ornamentation, over-the-top emotion, implausible plots, and very high notes. This was my first time listening to an opera, and all those things seemed to be true of it, in a way that would be somewhat easy to parody. And while part of my mind stood back and noted that, part was just delighting in the music (and in the over-the-top emotion), and recognizing another kind of loveliness than what I had previously recognized. I certainly mean to come back for more. And I'll be more careful how I speak.

Not Alan, but I wanted to respond anyway

I studied opera and have also been in The Marriage of Figaro. Opera isn't for everyone and that is fine! Everyone has their own preferences for different types of music. For example, my husband listens to hard rock and I can't stand it! I was a coloratura and the parts I sung were full of "ornamentation, over-the-top emotion, implausible plots, and very high notes". Some people love it, and some people hate it. Even in the Opera world, there are tons of opinions. I met plenty of people who had some very strong negative opinions about the parts in my repertoire but loved the roles a dramatic soprano would sing. So it just goes to show that thoughts on Opera vary widely across different groups of people. I applaud you for having a listen! The Marriage of Figaro is a wonderful piece of of music and I'm really excited to see this play launched here and to be a part of it!:)