The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart) - Revision history

Tony at 20:02, 23 February 2023

2023-02-23T20:02:45Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:02, 23 February 2023
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	==History==		==History==
	Tchaikovsky translated Da Ponte's libretto into Russian and edited the recitatives in 1875 at the request of [[Nikolay Rubinstein]], who wanted to stage a student performance of [[Mozart]]'s opera at the Moscow Conservatory. In the process, Tchaikovsky introduced some cuts and changes to the recitatives, explaining that it was necessary to eliminate portions of the text that were unsuitable for young people, "besides which", he wrote, "in view of the awkwardness of the recitatives when rendered into the Russian language, I occasionally simplified and shortened unnecessarily lengthy passages. The ''recitativo secco'' is not ''music'', but a ''conversation with music'', and may be freely abridged whilst preserving the character of the original. On the other hand in the entirely musical numbers I didn't even allow myself to alter the rhythm or metre in the translation" <ref name="note1"/>.		Tchaikovsky translated Da Ponte's libretto into Russian and edited the recitatives in 1875 at the request of [[Nikolay Rubinstein]], who wanted to stage a student performance of [[Mozart]]'s opera at the Moscow Conservatory. In the process, Tchaikovsky introduced some cuts and changes to the recitatives, explaining that it was necessary to eliminate portions of the text that were unsuitable for young people, "besides which", he wrote, "in view of the awkwardness of the recitatives when rendered into the Russian language, I occasionally simplified and shortened unnecessarily lengthy passages. The ''recitativo secco'' is not ''music'', but a ''conversation with music'', and may be freely abridged whilst preserving the character of the original. On the other hand, in the entirely musical numbers I didn't even allow myself to alter the rhythm or metre in the translation" <ref name="note1"/>.

	==Performances==		==Performances==

Tony at 19:55, 23 February 2023

2023-02-23T19:55:42Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:55, 23 February 2023
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	==History==		==History==
	Tchaikovsky translated Da Ponte's libretto into Russian and edited the recitatives in 1875 at the request of [[Nikolay Rubinstein]], who wanted to stage a student performance of [[Mozart]]'s opera at the Moscow Conservatory. In the process Tchaikovsky introduced some cuts and changes to the recitatives, explaining that it was necessary to eliminate portions of the text that were unsuitable for young people, "besides which", he wrote, "in view of the awkwardness of the recitatives when rendered into the Russian language, I occasionally simplified and shortened unnecessarily lengthy passages. The ''recitativo secco'' is not ''music'', but a ''conversation with music'', and may be freely abridged whilst preserving the character of the original. On the other hand in the entirely musical numbers I didn't even allow myself to alter the rhythm or metre in the translation" <ref name="note1"/>.		Tchaikovsky translated Da Ponte's libretto into Russian and edited the recitatives in 1875 at the request of [[Nikolay Rubinstein]], who wanted to stage a student performance of [[Mozart]]'s opera at the Moscow Conservatory. In the process, Tchaikovsky introduced some cuts and changes to the recitatives, explaining that it was necessary to eliminate portions of the text that were unsuitable for young people, "besides which", he wrote, "in view of the awkwardness of the recitatives when rendered into the Russian language, I occasionally simplified and shortened unnecessarily lengthy passages. The ''recitativo secco'' is not ''music'', but a ''conversation with music'', and may be freely abridged whilst preserving the character of the original. On the other hand in the entirely musical numbers I didn't even allow myself to alter the rhythm or metre in the translation" <ref name="note1"/>.

	==Performances==		==Performances==

Brett: 1 revision imported

2022-07-12T11:14:02Z

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Brett: Text replacement - "vocal-piano score" to "vocal-piano reduction"

2020-02-20T16:29:36Z

Text replacement - "vocal-piano score" to "vocal-piano reduction"

New page

'''''Le Nozze di Figaro''''', or '''''The Marriage of Figaro''''' (Свадьба Фигаро) is an opera buffa in 4 acts by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]], for which Tchaikovsky made a Russian translation of the recitatives for a student production at the [[Moscow]] Conservatory in 1875 ([[TH]] 188 ; [[ČW]] 417).

==Text==
The original Italian libretto for the opera was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte, after Pierre Beaumarchais' comedy ''La Folle Journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro'' (1778).

==History==
Tchaikovsky translated Da Ponte's libretto into Russian and edited the recitatives in 1875 at the request of [[Nikolay Rubinstein]], who wanted to stage a student performance of [[Mozart]]'s opera at the Moscow Conservatory. In the process Tchaikovsky introduced some cuts and changes to the recitatives, explaining that it was necessary to eliminate portions of the text that were unsuitable for young people, "besides which", he wrote, "in view of the awkwardness of the recitatives when rendered into the Russian language, I occasionally simplified and shortened unnecessarily lengthy passages. The ''recitativo secco'' is not ''music'', but a ''conversation with music'', and may be freely abridged whilst preserving the character of the original. On the other hand in the entirely musical numbers I didn't even allow myself to alter the rhythm or metre in the translation" <ref name="note1"/>.

==Performances==
The first performance of the opera ''The Marriage of Figaro'' with the text in Tchaikovsky's translation took place on 5/17 May 1876 at the [[Moscow]] Conservatory, conducted by [[Nikolay Rubinstein]].

==Publication==
When in 1884 [[Pyotr Jurgenson]] decided to publish the vocal-piano reduction of ''Le Nozze di Figaro'' in Tchaikovsky's translation — "only for the sake of your translation" <ref name="note2"/> — Tchaikovsky made some minor changes to the text, and added a preface to the score (dated 31 May/12 June 1884) which was printed on the penultimate page of the arrangement.

The composer corrected the proofs for the edition himself, but was dissatisfied with the arrangement which [[Pyotr Jurgenson]] selected for the edition, and complained that: "It's a pity that I didn't think to make a new arrangement myself!" <ref name="note3"/>. On 20 June/2 July he told his publisher: "I'm sorry for the delay in sending you the proofs of ''Figaro''. I wanted to confine myself to correcting the text, but I couldn't resist going through the music..." <ref name="note4"/>.

The vocal-piano reduction, as translated and edited by Tchaikovsky, was published by [[Pyotr Jurgenson]] in 1884.

==Autographs==
Tchaikovsky's manuscript score of Act I (except for the recitative after No. 8) is now preserved in the {{RUS-Mcm}} in [[Moscow]] {{TOW2|v-a-mocart-svadba-figaro-redakciya-rechitativov-k-opere|(ф. 88, No. 158)}}.

Until recently the remainder of the autograph was considered lost. However, in August 2010, Marina Demina, a librarian at the {{S-Skma}} (Music and Theatre Library of Sweden) in Stockholm, discovered Tchaikovsky's manuscript of Acts II, III and IV, which included the missing recitative from Act I (X:130:1) [http://carkiv.musikverk.se/www/Tjajkovskij_autograf_Ser_X_130.pdf [view]).

See the [[Talk:The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart)|discussion page]] for an English translation of her account.

==Related Works==
''Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata'' (KV 492) by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] (1756–1791) was first produced in [[Vienna]] in 1786.

==External Links==
* {{imslpscore|Le_nozze_di_Figaro,_K.492_(Mozart,_Wolfgang_Amadeus)|Le nozze di Figaro, K.492 (Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus)}}

==Notes and References==
<references>
<ref name="note1">[[Letter 2498]] to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 31 May/12 June 1884.</ref>
<ref name="note2">Letter from [[Pyotr Jurgenson]] to Tchaikovsky, 3/15 May 1884 — [[Klin]] House-Museum Archive.</ref>
<ref name="note3">[[Letter 2504]] to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 12/24–13/25 June 1884.</ref>
<ref name="note4">[[Letter 2507]] to [[Pyotr Jurgenson]], 20 June/2 July 1884.</ref>
</references>
[[Category:Editions|Marriage of Figaro]]
[[Category:Translations|Marriage of Figaro]]
[[Category:Operas|Marriage of Figaro]]