marriage of figaro, act 2

now as luck has it, over the Xmas i splashed out on a nice new sound system for my ride, with greater everything, including blue tooth operability, no pun intended.... The old marriage of Figaro act 1 cd still sits in the cd player, but nowadays, technology being what it is, compact discs are somewhat passe... I still remember using vinyl records with 33 & 45 rpm settings, but this is now obselete... It was only in the 1980s that copper phone lines were eshewed for optical fibres, which may have been a gift from aliens from a different solar system, who knows? I still remember my dad, who taught me electronics as a kid v=i/r, how to solder and make circuits with resisters, etc... Seems my kid is only interested in tv, but at least I'm encouraging a love of linguistics I suppose, as he's happy to watch tv in Spanish and Russian.


anyway, it's the easiest thing in the world to download marriage of Figaro, act 2, on YouTube, then blue tooth it to the new sound system.... I'll walk you through the classic arias there soon, it's fair to say the parts in between with all the kind of singing lines with no music is kind of crappo and I'm sure Mozart wouldn't disagree too strongly if he were around now....


so as it turns out, my old blue car isn't too old to deliver food for uber and that's just what I've been doing tonight! A little extra pocket money




ok so the plot of act 2 is straightforward:


In the second act the Countess, in her room, is sad, neglected by her husband. She listens to Figaro's plan to dress Cherubino as a girl and put him in Susanna's place in an attempt to trap the Count. Cherubino is singing of his love for the Countess, when the Count returns from hunting, eager to pursue matters divulged to him in an anonymous letter accusing the Countess. Cherubino hides in the closet and Susanna, unseen by the others, comes in. The Countess tells her husband that Susanna is in the closet but the door cannot be opened. The Count, suspicious, goes to fetch tools to open the door, taking the Countess with him. This allows Cherubino to jump out of the window and Susanna to take his place. The Count returns and the closet is opened, revealing Susanna. Antonio, the gardener, adds complications when he comes in to complain of someone jumping out of the window, and Figaro now claims that it was him. The act ends with the appearance of Don Basilio, Bartolo and Marcellina, seeking justice




if you listen to that first aria, that's really the countess, bemoaning or bewailing her situation with her husband, I personally can't understand what she's saying apart from 'tesoro' which is treasure, a term of endearment, however, clearly she is sad... Her husband is a son of a bitch and has a right to shtoop any of his servants' wives, which he intends to do with Susanna, which is a big part of the plot... This is really how it was with the aristocracy a few centuries ago in Europe... Unfortunately, with all of our liberties today, we've actually gone backwards in many individual cases, no doubt


Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro
al mio duolo, ai miei sospir';
o mi rendi il mio tesoro,
o mi lascia almen morir.
Love, give some solace
to my grief, to my sighs;
either give me back my treasure,
or at least let me die.


http://youtu.be/bcAbM3ON15Q


very moving, very touching, now returning to crime mob's I'll beat yo azz, I definitely consider this comparable to opera, there are staccato bass riffs, a kind of singing, of less obtuse range than Mozart operas, still a fascinating and enthralling musical piece, I highly rate it:


http://youtu.be/LvIQ7V6ReZA