An opera full of surrealistic inspiration and imagination

The Central Opera House of China, which is the most distinguished opera house in China today. For years, its staff members have been engaged in disseminating Western classics, and "Figaro's Wedding" is yet another fresh creation to be featured by the theater.

According to reports, the new "Figaro's Wedding" is full of surrealistic inspiration and imagination due to the elaborate adaptation by the Central Opera House of China. Unlike the routine practice of realism-naturalism in operatic productions, the new version adopts themes of exaggeration and transformation. The opera design is conceived with theatrical hints, forming a highly succinct and virtual pattern.

One scene -- a motif

Only one scene is used throughout the opera. Above the stage are two picture frames symbolizing two eyes hanging down from the velarium; under them is a fireplace with two holes that resemble a nose. Used the area as a hiding place or as an entrance or exit on stage. The most striking part are the huge, cherry-like lips sitting in the middle of the stage which serve as a couch or bed in the first half of the opera and a parterre or a davenport in the latter half. The giant lips are the focus point for the audience, and all the conflicts in the opera revolve around them. 

Bringing visual sensations and stimulating the audience's imagination, these significant designs by no means interfere with the audience's appreciation of the piece. They are of the same style with an adapted opera and music. In terms of performance, the new version features the originally elusive "Figaro's Wedding" as a piece endowed with its own individualism and characteristics. Creative as it is, the new version is by no means strange: It is a successful adaptation. In the process of recreating the opera, the performers attached great importance to penetrating the minds of the audience and breaking away from the boundaries of foreign culture, thus injecting a kind of artistic affinity and modernity, making the new version very appealing.

According to critics, it will not be difficult for the audience to understand the arias and music, and they will surely be carried away by the adapted Mozart classics. Moreover, the adapted arias are easier to understand while retaining the charming elegance of traditional operas.

 A general introduction to the opera

"Figaro's Wedding," an important work composed by Mozart during his stay in Vienna, has been regarded as an all-time classic in the opera world. The opera was created for aristocrats some 200 years ago, and its roots can be traced to a drama of the same name by French writer Beaumarchais of The French Enlightenment.

Figaro, a male servant to a count, married the maid Suzanne to the countess. However, the count sought to restore the abolished "droit du seigneur" (the right of a lord to have sexual intercourse with a vassal's bride on her wedding night) and take Suzanne as his own. Figaro, together with Suzanne and the countess, worked out an elaborate plan to teach the count a lesson, and the lovers were finally united. The drama, with its humor and ironic tone reflects the rise of "the third class" and pays great tributes to those combating feudalism. While creating the opera, Mozart retained the tenet of the drama:  denouncing the count's efforts to restore serfdom and expressing his tribute to liberal thinking. Mozart's extraordinary talents in music are realized in the opera and his pride in being a member of the third class can be felt. Certain famous arias, such as "Don't be a lover anymore," have become quite familiar to Chinese people.