The play "The Marriage of Figaro" by Beaumarchais and its success

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

One of the most famous plays in the world dramaturgy "Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro" is written by Pierre Beaumarchais. Written more than two centuries ago, it still has not lost its popularity and is known all over the world.

Let's learn a little about the author himself and his play, which was not only shown in theaters, but also filmed.

Beaumarchais is a famous playwright

Pierre Beaumarchais was born on January 24, 1732. The birthplace of the famous playwright is Paris. His father was a watchmaker and bore the surname Caron, but later Pierre changed it to a more aristocratic one.

Even at an early age, Beaumarchais decided to learn his father's craft. However, he paid much attention to the study of music. Thanks to this, he gained access to high society. So Pierre acquired many useful connections.

Beaumarchais's mind and determination allowed him not only to create an escapement escapement, one of the newest watch movements, but also to get into the Royal Society of London, receive the title of academician and become a royal watchmaker. And he achieved all this before the age of 23.

His first play hewrote in 1767, she was called "Eugenie".

The well-known classic comedy "The Barber of Seville" was written by him in 1773, staged in 1775, and it was she who brought him unprecedented success, although not immediately. It was after her that he decided to continue the cycle of a smart and dexterous servant and wrote the plays "The Marriage of Figaro" and "Criminal Mother".

Beaumarchais was married three times, and each of his wives was a we althy widow in the past. This brought the playwright a significant fortune.

Pierre Beaumarchais died in 1799, on May 18, in his native city of Paris.

The Adventures of Figaro Trilogy

The most famous works of Beaumarchais are those included in his trilogy of Figaro.

The first play was written in 1773. The comedy was called The Barber of Seville. Initially, it was an opera, but after the failure of the premiere, the author rewrote it in two days, turning it into an ordinary play. In the first book, Figaro helps Count Almaviva marry the beautiful Rosina.

Five years later, the second play by Beaumarchais comes out, one of the central figures of which is the same Figaro. This work tells about the marriage of Figaro himself to the servant of Countess Almaviva, Susana.

The last play "Criminal Mother" was released in 1792. If the previous two plays were comedies, then this is already a drama, and the main emphasis in it is on the moral qualities of the main characters, and not on social inequality. Figaro will have to save the count's family. To do this, he needs to bring to light the villain Bezhars, whowants to destroy not only the marriage of the count and countess, but also the future of Leon and Florestina.

The second play about the adventures of Figaro is a triumph for the playwright

The most famous play by Beaumarchais is "A Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro". As you know, it was written in 1779. Initially, its action took place in France, but since the censorship did not let it through, the scene was moved to Spain.

Quite a few have criticized the play because it exposes the adventures of the nobles, and the commoner is smarter than his liege. It was a serious challenge to the society of that time. Not everyone liked this state of affairs. After all, for that time it was unacceptable.

At first, Beaumarchais read his work in the salons, which attracted everyone's attention to it. Then it was decided to put on a play. But this idea was realized only five years later: Louis XVI did not like the subtext of the play, and only general discontent forced the monarch to allow the production.

Plot of the play

In a small estate in Spain, the action of Beaumarchais' play "The Marriage of Figaro" takes place. The summary of the work is as follows.

Figaro is going to marry the maid Countess Almaviva Suzanne. But the count also likes her, and he is not averse not only to making her his mistress, but also to request the right of the first night - an ancient feudal custom. If the girl disobeys her master, then he can deprive her of her dowry. Naturally, Figaro intends to stop him.

Besides, Bartolo, who at one time was left without a bride because of Figaro, is brewing a plan on how to take revenge on his offender. To do this, he asks the housekeeper Marceline to demand a debt from Figaro. If he does not return the money, he is obliged to marry her. But in fact, Marceline was supposed to marry Bartolo, with whom she shares a common child, abducted as a child.

At the same time, the Countess, abandoned by the Count, is enjoying the company of her admirer, page Cherubino. Then Figaro decides to play on this and arouse the jealousy of the count, reconcile him with the countess, and at the same time force him to abandon Susanna.

The main characters of the play

The list of actors in Beaumarchais's play "The Marriage of Figaro" is not so great. It is worth highlighting several main characters from it:

• Figaro is the servant and housekeeper of Count Almaviva, Susanna's fiancé and, as it turns out later, the son of Marcelina and Bartolo.
• Suzanne - the countess's maid, Figaro's fiancee.
• Countess Almaviva - wife of Count Almaviva, godmother of Cherubino.
• Count Almaviva is the husband of the countess, a rake and a womanizer. Secretly in love with Suzanne.
• Cherubino is the count's page, the godson of the countess, secretly in love with her.

These are the main characters of the play, in addition, the following characters play a significant role in it:

• Marcelina - Bartolo's housekeeper, has a son in common with him. In love with Figaro, who turns out to be her son.
• Bartolo is a doctor, an old enemy of Figaro, his father.

Of course, this is not a complete list of heroes that participate instaging. There are others, such as the gardener Antonio and his daughter Fansheta, but they play only episodic roles, and their participation in the play is reduced to performing one or another action, not always a key one.

Staging a play

The first production of the play "The Marriage of Figaro" took place in 1783 at the estate of Count Francois de Vaudreil. A year later, on April 24, the first official performance was given, which brought Beaumarchais not only success, but also worldwide fame. The premiere took place at the Comedie Francaise Theatre. After some time, the play was banned, and it was released again only at the end of the 18th century.

In the Russian Empire, the premiere of the play took place two years later. It was staged by the St. Petersburg French troupe. Then the text of the work was translated into Russian, and it was repeatedly staged in theaters. The play did not lose its popularity even after the revolution. She was one of the first to be staged in the USSR. Quite often it was staged in the famous Russian Lenkom. Today, one of the best productions of the play can be seen there.

Mozart and "Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro"

It is known that Beaumarchais' play made an indelible impression on Mozart. The composer decided to write the opera "The Marriage of Figaro", based on the work of the famous playwright.

The composer started writing it in 1785, in December. A couple of months later, the work was ready, and on May 1, 1786, the premiere of the opera took place. Tounfortunately, she did not receive such success and recognition as Mozart had hoped. "The Marriage of Figaro" became famous only at the end of the year, after being staged in Prague. The opera consists of 4 acts. For its performance, scores have been written that include the participation of stringed instruments, timpani. Also used are two flutes, trumpets, horns, two oboes, bassoon and clarinet.

For basso continuo, cello and harpsichord are used. It is authentically known that at the premiere of the opera Mozart himself conducted the orchestra. Thus, thanks to Beaumarchais, the opera The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart was born.

Screenings of Beaumarchais's play

The first film adaptation was back in 1961. The film was shot in France, the homeland of the playwright. Unfortunately, this is the only foreign adaptation of the play. The rest of the adaptation attempts were made in Russia.

For a long time, one of the most popular plays in the USSR was The Marriage of Figaro. Lenkom became the theater where one could watch this play and enjoy the acting. It was this production that was decided to be filmed in 1974, five years after the first show on the stage of the theater. This film adaptation was recognized as one of the best, largely due to the actors who played the main roles.

In 2003 the play was filmed again. Russian and Ukrainian TV channels jointly took up shooting it and created a New Year's musical based on the play. This film adaptation was not as successful as the first film. She was remembered by everyone as an ordinary entertainment show.

1974 movie

Due to the popularity of the performance, there weredecided to record it for television. The film was first shown on TV in 1974, on April 29. The film consisted of two episodes. The first one was about an hour and a half, the second a little less.

The director of the film was V. Khramov, and the director of the film was V. Vershinsky. As in the play, Mozart's music was used in the film. The film was shown on TV more than once, she was one of her favorites. Unfortunately, today this film is not shown so often, and you can watch it on DVD.

Actors

As for the actors who played roles in the film, the most famous is Andrei Mironov, who played the role of Figaro for many years. After he lost consciousness at the end of the play right on the stage in 1987 and died soon after, this performance was dedicated to him. Each time his name is mentioned at the end of the play.

The count in the television version was played by Alexander Shirvindt, his wife - Vera Vasilyeva. The role of Suzanne was played by Nina Kornienko, and Marceline by Tatyana Peltzler. As for Cherubino, Alexander Voevodin plays him in the TV version, and not Boris Galkin, as in the original performance.

Musical

In 2003, it was decided to make a musical based on the play. The TV channels Inter and NTV took over the implementation of the project. According to the already established tradition, Ukrainian and Russian pop stars were invited for filming. The scriptwriter and director was Semyon Gorov, the composer was Vitaly Okorokov.

The film "The Marriage of Figaro" was filmed in the Crimea, using as the main sceneryVorontsov Palace. A disc was released for the film with songs that were performed in the production. In addition, the film itself was presented to the public at Cannes.

Many criticized the musical, writing that Lenkom's production was much better, and this is just a pale parody of it.

Despite this, quite often you can see the film "The Marriage of Figaro" on the TV screen. The musical has become quite popular today. The reason for this is the colorful sets and beautiful, melodic songs, many of which became hits after the film's release.

Actors in the musical

As already mentioned, professional singers and Russian pop stars were invited to play the main roles in the musical. Considering that there are many songs in the film, it would be inappropriate to invite ordinary actors for these purposes. In addition, this was not the first New Year's project of Inter, and for many artists this musical was not the first.

The role of Figaro was played by Boris Khvoshnyansky. The count and countess were played by Philip Kirkorov and Lolita Milyavskaya. The role of Suzanne was entrusted to Anastasia Stotskaya.

In addition, such stars as Boris Moiseev, Sofia Rotaru, Ani Lorak and Andrey Danilko took part in the adaptation.

Reasons for the play's popularity

The reason for the popularity of the work is that it is one of the best plays in the world of drama. Despite belonging to classicism, it also has innovative notes. So, Beaumarchais raises in the play the problem of how sometimes stupid aristocrats are and how base their desires are. The author shows that not alwaysan ordinary person who does not have an aristocratic upbringing turns out to be stupid.

This play is also interesting for its content, language, jokes and funny situations.

Unfortunately, today Beaumarchais's play is not included in the list of required reading, and few people know its content. Also, not all universities consider it mandatory to study it. Unless lovers of dramaturgy and book lovers are interested in it.

Thus, today not everyone knows about Beaumarchais's play "A Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro", and many even believe that this is just a beautiful musical composed by Gorov.

Conclusion

The play by Beaumarchais, having survived more than one century, is still read by people who are interested in the classics, especially dramaturgy. It has been staged more than once all over the world, and it is quite popular in Russia as well. Several films were made based on the book, two of which were domestically produced. One is based on a theatrical production, the second is an original musical that has become popular among today's youth.

Today "Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro" is a performance that can be seen not only on TV, but also in the famous Lenkom Theater. It is there that they show one of the best productions of the play by Beaumarchais. The performance itself is dedicated to the memory of Andrei Mironov, who was the first actor to play the role of Figaro in this production. He died practically on the stage of the theater, without leaving the image of his hero.