Mmm, Mozart!

Drue and I had a FABULOUS date night on saturday! We went to see The Marriage of Figaro and it was fantastic!!!
First of all, a little information.
This is an opera done in grand comic style. Or in other words, its FUNNY- a specialty of Mozarts! He was (in)famous for his sense of humor.
It is also written and sung in Italian which made listening both a delight and little difficult. Fortunately, there were supertitles being shown above the action so folks knew (approximately) what was being sung...
But on to the show.
First of all, when going to the opera, its a good idea to get Box seats whenever you can. We got a SLAMMIN' deal on our seats since we're students and have the student season pass to the Symphony and Opera. You can't beat $8 per ticket! Our seats were RIGHT close to the stage, so we could read the text, see the action CLEARLY, hear the singers CLEARLY (and by clearly I mean we could hear them breathe, pronounce, facial expressions, etc... even the makeup jobs! It was magical!- seeing as the last time I saw a Mozart Opera was at the San Francisco Opera house and I had NOSEBLEED seats -like, if I stood up and extended my arm upwards, I could touch the ceiling!
Now about the singers.
I REALLY wish I could find pictures of all the singers! They were EXCELLENT. But Figaro was by far my favorite! He had this smooth, rich, creamy voice like Dark Chocolate- he was a bass baritone- and tall, handsome, and had this great smile when his two dimples would show up. And comic timing? This guy was perfect! Hilarious! We were laughing OUT LOUD at most times when he was on stage. Almost like he was born to play the role. I believe in people being born to perform some particular work or another- and this applies across the board from engineering to painting, music to cooking. This Figaro was beautiful in the role!
Susanna was a little weak for my taste- but Drue thought she was very good. I will admit, when it was just her, she really shone- especially when she is singing of her love for Figaro. That was spot on! But when there were more than 2 singers, she kinda got lost. But she was engaging and played her part well.
The Countess was my favorite of the two sopranos. She sang with intensity and wonderful expression and had a firm command on her tone quality which is always desirable in a soprano! (haha!) And she really had her part of the depraved and spurned wife down pat!
The Count had a commanding presence! He was also a bass-baritone but not quite so silky as Figaro. More edge to his voice but so powerful! Commanding and regal! He WAS "THE COUNT". And I loved watching him get his come-uppance! Vangance is sweet. Especially when its not happening to me!
The story of the Opera is a situational comedy. Here it is in a nutshell:
the count has abolished the feudal right of the "lord" to sleep with a maid on her wedding night, before her fiance.
Every one thinks this is great.
Until the servant Susanna- who the count thinks is hot- is engaged to Figaro- the count's personal valet.
Figaro and Susanna are very happy to get married, especially now that the count can't usurp on the wedding night.
But, count still tries to woo Susanna.
Meanwhile, Countess knows about count getting flirty with all the maids. She's sad about it because she really does love him.
Page boy- Cherubino- is drowning in testosterone. The Count catches Cherubino hitting on Countess and dismisses him.
Cherubino goes to Susanna for comfort and tries to get her to get the Countess to give him his job back.
Susanna tries to help.
Count surprises Susanna- who hides Cherubino- and tries to woo her. Cherubino hears. Thinks something is going on.
Figaro suspects the count of trying to woo his lady but can do nothing.
Susanna goes to Countess to help Cherubino (who has subsequently been assigned to seville but cannot go because his orders lack a seal).
Countess mourns her hubby for his philandering ways.
Figaro, Countess, Cherubino and Susanna plot to play a trick of identity on the count so he'll leave Susanna alone...

I'm going to leave the story there. If you want to know how this all plays out- go to the opera! You'll NOT regret it!