โWhatโs the worst that can happen?โ How soprano Danielle de Niese turned to directing for The Marriage of Figaro
Mozartโs Marriage of Figaro is in the sopranoโs DNA, but sheโs never thought about directing it. Creating her own production has been daunting and fascinating โ and her sonโs building blocks even helped I am not one of those performers who has spent their life on a theatre stage or film set thinking, โI wish I could direct thisโ. However, earlier this year, I found myself with an unexpected six-week gap. A scheduled project had been delayed for technical reasons, and it was at this time that Wild Artsโ producer Max Parfitt asked how well I knew The Marriage of Figaro. I have lived with Mozartโs opera for as long as I can remember. Susannaโs โDeh, Vieni Non Tardarโ was one of the first major arias I sang, aged 12 or 13, while studying in Los Angeles. Later, I wrote my final high school paper on Figaro, the adaptation from Beaumarchaisโs play to Da Ponteโs libretto. I even translated the entire score word for word, which is probably why I still know it so deeply. My Metropolitan Opera debut at 19 was in Figaro, singing Barbarina. I performed my first Susanna on the same New York stage a few years later, and Iโve since sung the role many times all over the world. Continue reading...