Description
Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro turns on wicked Count Almaviva hoping to have his way with the Countess’ maid Susanna before her wedding to his servant Figaro. In this boudoir recitative (which you may omit) and aria, the Countess recalls happier times (see The Barber of Seville): “Where are those beautiful moments of sweetness and pleasure, where did the promises of those lying lips go? Why, if all is now tears and sorrow, have those happy memories not left me?”
My reduction relies heavily on the 1900 Peters reduction by Gustav F. Kogel, ed. Emil Vogel, but I’ve also borrowed from others (including the generally poor reduction made for the edition for which Tchaikovsky provided the Russian translations) and made some changes of my own.[1]Scores all on IMSLP. Sometime I’ll dig out the bit in Tchaikovsky’s letters where he slags off the reduction provided for him. Some phrasing follows the 1879 Breitkopf & Härtel full score, ed. Franz Wüllner, which is closer to the 18th century sources. A couple of alternative notes in the solo part are the work of Maria Stader – see below.
What you’ll get:
- A three-page solo part in the concert key, solo transposition, and clef requested, with the Italian lyrics to help you think about how you’re going to play it. Here’s a sample of the solo part in treble clef for Bb trombone.
- An eight-page score containing the piano part and the solo part. Here’s a sample.
A playlist of some singers from whom we brass players can learn – Montserrat Caballé, Sena Jurinac, Teresa Berganza giving a masterclass, Maria Stader and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf:
Anecnotes
