Mozart and the Enlightenment - operas are sites of social instruction and experimentation - vehicle for propagating social reforms - engage in aesthetic reection upon society - enlightenment ideas and reforms - evident in most of Mozart’s operas Da-Ponte and Mozart - Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte - uild on tradition of !"#$% &FF% - "ro'ed social conse(uences of values and ideas associated )ith the old regime - "rotagonists assume a range of stances *some are committed to existing arrangements and others open to possi'ilities and change in ideas+ - ocial experiments *di erent individuals and tendencies under characteristic social stresses+ - Focus on marriage and social reproduction Marriage of Figaro - # ects of enlightenment - .deas and reforms on shifting relations 'et)een old aristocracy and its dependents - /ransition from a feudal to a paternalistic agrarian regime
Mozart and the Enlightenment operas are sites of social
instruction and experimentation vehicle for propagating social
reforms engage in aesthetic reflection upon society enlightenment
ideas and reforms evident in most of Mozarts operasDa-Ponte and
Mozart Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte Build on
tradition of OPERA BUFFA Probed social consequences of values and
ideas associated with the old regime Protagonists assume a range of
stances (some are committed to existing arrangements and others
open to possibilities and change in ideas) Social experiments
(different individuals and tendencies under characteristic social
stresses) Focus on marriage and social reproduction Marriage of
Figaro Effects of enlightenment Ideas and reforms on shifting
relations between old aristocracy and its dependents Transition
from a feudal to a paternalistic agrarian regime
Don Giovanni Disruption produced by an individualist libertine
who adheres to his way of life regardless of its destructive
consequences for himself and others Role entrapmentCosi fan Tutte
Destroying illusions about love New social order based on equal
doses of reason and cynicism
Mozart and DaPonte sought satisfaction in their art by creating
worlds in which they would like to reside of those in which
aristocrats and kings were powerless, parodied or even punished.
Marriage of Figaro: Figaros opening cavatina, Se vuol ballare
asserts his equality (and superiority) over his employing the
Count. Minuet, second-beat accents suggest metaphorically that on
this occasion Figaro is kicking the Count down a flight of stairs.
Happiness consists simply in imagination. Mozarts father
Cosi fan tutte Opera buffa in 2 acts 26 January 1790 premiere in
Wiener Burgtheater in Vienna was said to be composed at the
suggestion of Emperor Joseph II recent research says that Salieri
left the libretto unfinished Thus do all women / Women are like
that Mozart disliked prima donna Adriana del Bene (mistress of
daPonte) whom the role of Fiordilgi had been created. Knowing her
habit of dropping her chin on low notes and throw back her head on
high notes, Mozart filled her showpiece Come scoglio with constant
leaps. (Bobbed like a chicken onstage)MARRIAGE OF FIGARO
