One of the most famous plays in the world of drama "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 throughout the world.
Let's find out a little about the author himself and his play, which was not only shown in theaters, but also filmed.
Beaumarchais - 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 name Karon, but subsequently Pierre changed it to a more aristocratic one.
In early childhood, Beaumarchais decided to comprehend the craft of his father. However, he paid a lot of attention to the study of music. Thanks to this, he gained access to high society. So Pierre gained many useful connections.
Beaumarchais's intelligence and determination allowed him not only to create an anchor descent, one of the latest watch mechanisms, but also to get into the Royal Society of London, get the title of academician and become a royal watchmaker. And he achieved all this until the age of 23.
He wrote his first play in 1767, it was called "Eugénie".
The well-known classic comedy "The Barber of Seville" was written by him in 1773, set 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 about a smart and clever servant and wrote the plays “The Marriage of Figaro” and “The Crime Mother”.
Beaumarchais was married three times, and each of his wives in the past was a rich widow. This brought the playwright a significant fortune.
Pierre Beaumarchais died in 1799, May 18, in his native city of Paris.
Figaro Adventure Trilogy
The most famous works of Beaumarchais are considered to be included in his trilogy about Figaro.
The first play was written in 1773. The comedy was called the Barber of Seville. Originally it was an opera, but after the failure of the premiere, the author rewrote it in two days, turning it into a regular play. In the first book, Figaro helps Count Almaviva marry the beautiful Rosina.
Five years later, Beaumarchais released the second play, one of the central figures of which is the same Figaro. This work tells of the marriage of Figaro himself to the servant of Countess Almaviva, Susan.
The last play, The Crime Mother, was released in 1792. If the two previous plays were comedies, then this is already a drama, with the main emphasis in it being 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 the open water the villain Bezhars, who wants to destroy not only the marriage of the count and countess, but also the future of Leon and Florestina.
Second play about Figaro's adventures - playwright's triumph
Beaumarchais's most famous play is Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro. As you know, it was written in 1779. Initially, its action took place in France, but since censorship did not miss it, the scene was moved to Spain.
Quite a few criticized the play for exposing the adventures of the nobles, and the commoner is smarter than his lord. It was a serious challenge to the society of that time. Not everyone liked this state of affairs. Indeed, for that time it was unacceptable.
At first, Beaumarchais read his work in salons, which attracted general attention to it. Then it was decided to stage the play. But this idea was realized only five years later: Louis XVI did not like the subtext of the play, and only general dissatisfaction forced the monarch to allow the production.
The plot of the play
In a small estate in Spain, the action of Beaumarchais's play “The Marriage of Figaro” takes place. The summary of the work is as follows.
Figaro is going to marry the chambermaid of Countess Almaviva Suzanne. But the count also likes her, and he is not averse not only to make 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 prevent that.
In addition, Bartolo, who at one time was left without a bride because of Figaro, has a plan ripening on how to take revenge on his offender. To do this, he asks the housekeeper Marcelina to demand a debt with Figaro. If he does not return the money, then he must marry her. But in fact, Marcelina was supposed to marry Bartolo, with whom she is connected by a common child, abducted as a child.
At the same time, the countess, abandoned by the count, enjoys the company of her admirer - the page of Cherubino. Then Figaro decides to play on it and cause the count’s jealousy, reconcile him with the countess, and at the same time force him to abandon Susanna.
The main characters of the play
The list of characters in the Beaumarchais 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, Suzanne's fiancé and, as it turns out later, the son of Marcelina and Bartolo.
- Suzanne is the countess’s chamberlain, Figaro’s bride.
- Countess Almaviva - Count Almaviva's wife, godmother Cherubino.
- Count Almaviva - the husband of the countess, rake and womanizer. Secretly in love with Suzanne.
- Cherubino - the page of the count, the countess’s godson, 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 common son with him. In love with Figaro, who actually turns out to be her son.
- Bartolo is a doctor, a longtime enemy of Figaro, his father.
Of course, this is not a complete list of characters who participate in the production. There are others, such as the gardener Antonio and his daughter Fanshet, but they play only episodic roles, and their participation in the play is reduced to the performance of one or another action, which is not always key.
Plays
The first production of the play “The Marriage of Figaro” took place in 1783 on the estate of Count Francois de Vodreil. 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 Comedy Francaise Theater. After some time, the play was banned, and she again saw the light only at the end of the XVIII 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. After the revolution, the play did not lose its popularity. She was one of the first to be staged in the USSR. Quite often it was placed in the famous Russian Lenkom. Today one of the best productions of the play can be seen there.
Mozart and "Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro"
It is known that the Beaumarchais play made a lasting impression on Mozart. The composer decided to write the opera "The Wedding of Figaro", based on the work of a famous playwright.
The composer began writing it in 1785, in December. After a couple of months, the work was ready, and on May 1, 1786, the opera premiered. Unfortunately, she did not receive as much 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. Opera consists of 4 actions. For its performance, musical scores are written, which provide for the participation of stringed instruments, and timpani. Two flutes, trumpets, horn, two oboes, bassoon and clarinet are also used.
For basso continuo, cello and harpsichord are used. It is known for certain 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.
Screen adaptations of Beaumarchais
The first film adaptation was back in 1961. The film was shot in France, in the homeland of the playwright. Unfortunately, this is the only foreign adaptation of the play. The remaining film 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 you could watch this play and enjoy the play of the actors. It was this production that it was decided to film 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 thanks to the actors who played the main roles.
In 2003, the play was filmed again. The Russian and Ukrainian television channels took up the film together and created the New Year musical based on the play. This film adaptation was not as successful as the first film. She was remembered by everyone as a regular entertainment show.
1974 movie
Due to the popularity of the play, it was decided to record it for television. The film was first shown on television in 1974, April 29th. The motion picture consisted of two series. The duration of the first 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, the film used the music of Mozart. The film was shown more than once on TV; 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 soon died, this performance was dedicated to him. Each time his name is remembered at the end of the play.
The count in the television version was played by Alexander Shirvindt, his wife - Vera Vasilyeva. The role of Susanna was played by Nina Kornienko, and Marcelina - Tatyana Peltzler. As for Cherubino, in the television version he is played by Alexander Voevodin, and not Boris Galkin, as in the original performance.
Musical
In 2003, it was decided to film a musical based on a play. The TV channels Inter and NTV took up the project. By tradition, stars of Ukrainian and Russian pop music were invited to shoot. The writer and director was Semyon Gorov, the composer - Vitaly Okorokov.
They shot the film "The Marriage of Figaro" in the Crimea, using the Vorontsov Palace as the main decoration. A film with songs that were performed in the production was released for the film. In addition, the film itself was presented to the public in Cannes.
Many criticized the musical, writing that Lenkom's production was much better, and this is only a pale parody of it.
Despite this, quite often you can see on the television screen the film "The Marriage of Figaro." The musical has become quite popular today. The reason for this is colorful scenery and beautiful, melodic songs, many of which became hits after the release of the film.
Actors in the musical
As already mentioned, professional singers, domestic pop stars were invited to the main roles in the musical. Given that there are a lot of songs in the film, it would be inappropriate to invite ordinary actors for these purposes. In addition, this was not the first New Year 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 Susanna was assigned to Anastasia Stotskaya.
In addition, stars such as Boris Moiseev, Sofia Rotaru, Ani Lorak and Andrei Danilko took part in the film adaptation.
Reasons for the popularity of the play
The reason for the popularity of the work is that it is one of the best plays in world drama. Despite belonging to classicism, it also has innovative notes. Thus, Beaumarchais raises in the play the problem of how aristocrats are sometimes stupid and how low their desires are. The author shows that it is not always an ordinary person who does not have an aristocratic education, is stupid.
This play is also interesting for its content, language, jokes and funny situations.
Unfortunately, today the Beaumarchais play is not included in the list of required reading literature, and few people know its content. Also, not all universities consider it mandatory to study. Unless drama lovers and book lovers are interested in her.
Thus, today not everyone knows about Beaumarchais’s play “Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro”, and many even think that this is just a beautiful musical composed by Gorov.
Conclusion
The Beaumarchais play, having survived more than one century, is still read by people who are interested in classics, especially drama. She has been put on stage all over the world more than once; she is quite popular in Russia. Several films were shot from the book, two of which are of domestic production. One was shot in a theatrical setting, the second - the original musical, which has become popular among modern youth.
Today, “Crazy Day, or The Marriage of Figaro” is a performance that can be seen not only on television, but also in the famous Lenkom Theater. It is there that one of the best productions based on the Beaumarchais play is shown. 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 almost on the stage of the theater, without leaving the image of his hero.