Vocal and stage image of Count di Almaviva in the opera «The marriage of Figaro» by W. A. Mozart: the dichotomy of traditional and modern

Abstract

Relevance of the study. The study explores the problem of forming a vocal and stage image in opera art using the example of the part of Count Almaviva from the “commedia pe musica” “The Marriage of Figaro” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The focus is on the algorithm of the soloist's work on the image in the conditions of coexistence of the traditional performing school and modern director's theater. Familiarization with the various dramaturgical solutions of this masterpiece opera allows for a competent performance analysis of the vocal and stage image of the colorful antagonist — Count di Almaviva, whose character in different productions encompasses various gradations from a depraved courtly ladies' man to a dramatic Verdiesque image. The study of the features of the extrapolation of this bright character from the plane of the traditional to the dimension of the experimental contributes to a deeper and better penetration of the opera performer into this image, and therefore to the reproduction of his characteristic essence on stage.

The main objective of the study is to identify the specifics of the formation of the vocal and stage image of Count di Almaviva in the opera "The Marriage of Figaro" and to outline the dichotomy of the traditional and the modern in its interpretation in the conditions of the current director's theater.

The methodology. The methodological foundation of the study is based on a comprehensive approach that incorporates methods of comparative analysis, the historical approach, and the critical-analytical method. The interpretation of the part of Count di Almaviva is considered in the context of an experimental directorial version implemented at the Kyiv Opera, which is positioned as an artistic phenomenon determined by the influences of the Western European opera process of the late 20th - first quarter of the 21st century.

The main results and conclusions. It has been established that, given the immutability of the musical material and the variability of the director's concepts (the spatiotemporal resolution of the plot, approaches to interpreting the images of Mozart's characters), the semantics of the vocal and stage image of Count di Almaviva demonstrates a clearly expressed dichotomy. It combines the immutable universal, timeless with the specifics of a certain space-time. The image of Count Almaviva appears as a complex model of the interaction of traditional Mozartian style and current theatrical thinking, which opens up new opportunities for the performer's interpretative freedom.