The play "The Marriage of Figaro" by Beaumarchais and her success

One of the most famous plays in the world drama "Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro" belongs to Pierre Beaumarchais. Written more than two centuries ago, it has not lost its popularity and is known all over the world.

Let's find out a little about the author and his play, which was not only shown in theaters, but also screened.

Beaumarchais is a 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 surname Caron, but later Pierre changed it to a more aristocratic one.

Even in his early childhood Beaumarchais decided to comprehend his father's craft. However, he paid much attention to the study of music. Thanks to this, he gained access to a higher society. So Pierre has acquired many useful links.

The mind and purpose of Beaumarchais allowed him not only to create an anchor descent, one of the newest watch movements, but also to get into the Royal Society of London, to receive the title of academician and become a royal watchmaker. And all this he reached to 23 years.

His first play he wrote in 1767, it was called "Eugenie".

The well-known classical comedy "The Barber of Seville" was written by him in 1773, was staged in 1775, and it was she who brought him unprecedented success, though not immediately. It was after her that he decided to continue the cycle about the clever and clever servant and wrote the plays "The Marriage of Figaro" and "The Criminal Mother".

Beaumarchais was married three times, and each of his wives in the past was a rich widow. This brought the dramatist a considerable fortune.

Pierre Beaumarchais died in 1799, on May 18, in his hometown of Paris.

The trilogy of the adventures of Figaro

The most famous works of Beaumarchais are those who entered into his trilogy about Figaro.

The first play was written in 1773. The comedy was called "The Barber of Seville". Initially 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 of Figaro, Count Almaviva helps to marry the beautiful Rosina.

Five years later, the second play of Beaumarchais, one of the central figures of which is still the same Figaro. This work tells about the marriage of Figaro himself on the handmaid of Countess Almaviva, Suzane.

The last play "Criminal mother" was published in 1792. If the two previous plays were comedies, then this is a drama, and the main emphasis is on the moral qualities of the protagonists, and not on social inequality. Figaro will have to save the family of the count. To do this, he needs to bring clean villain Bejars, who wants to destroy not only the marriage of the Count and Countess, but also the future of Leon and Florestine.

The second play about the adventures of Figaro - triumph of the playwright

The most famous play Beaumarchais - "Mad day, or The Marriage of Figaro." As you know, it was written in 1779. Initially, its action was unfolding in France, but since the censorship did not miss it, the scene was transferred to Spain.

Quite a few have criticized the play for exposing the adventures of the nobles, and the commoner is smarter than his lord. This was a serious challenge to the society of that time. This state of affairs was not liked by everyone. It was unacceptable for that time.

At first Beaumarchais read his work in the salons, which attracted everyone's attention to him. 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 discontent forced the monarch to allow the production.

The plot of the play

In a small estate in Spain, the action of the play Beaumarchais "The Marriage of Figaro" unfolds. The summary of the work is as follows.

Figaro is going to marry the Countess Almaviva's maid, Suzanne. But she likes the count, and he does not mind not only making her his mistress, but also to ask for the right of the first night - the ancient feudal custom. If a girl disobeys her master, he may deprive her of her dowry. Naturally, Figaro intends to prevent that.

In addition, Bartolo, who at one time was left without a fiancé because of Figaro, is ripening a plan for revenge on his offender. To do this, he asks the housekeeper Marcelina to demand a debt from Figaro. If he does not return the money, then he must marry her. But in fact Marcelina was to marry Bartolo, with whom she is connected by a common child, kidnapped as a child.

At the same time, the countess, left by the count, enjoys the company of her admirer - the Cherubino page. Then Figaro decides to play on this and cause the count's jealousy, to reconcile him with the countess, and at the same time to force him to abandon Susannah.

The main characters of the play

The list of actors of the play Beaumarchais "The Marriage of Figaro" is not so great. It is worth highlighting several main characters:

• Figaro is a servant and housekeeper of Count Almaviva, Suzanne's suitor and, as it turns out later, son of Marcelina and Bartolo.
• Suzanne is the Countess's maid, the bride of Figaro.
• Countess Almaviva is the wife of Count Almaviva, the godparent Cherubino.
• Count Almaviva - husband of the countess, a rake and a ladies' man. Secretly in love with Susanna.
• Cherubino is the page of the count, the godson of the countess, secretly in love with her.

These are the main characters of the play, in addition, a significant role in it is played by the following characters:

• Marcelina - the housekeeper Bartolo, has a common son with him. She is in love with Figaro, who in fact 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 the characters who participate in the production. There are others, such as the gardener Antonio and his daughter Fanchet, but they play only episodic roles, and their participation in the play is reduced to performing an action, not always a key one.

Playing the play

The first production of the play "The Marriage of Figaro" took place in 1783 at the estate of Count Francois de Vaudreuil. 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 in the theater "Comedie Francaise". After a while, the play was banned, and she saw the light again only in the late 18th century.

In the Russian Empire, the play premiered two years later. It was staged by a French company in St. Petersburg. Then the text of the work was translated into Russian, and it was repeatedly staged in theaters. The play did not lose its popularity even after the revolution. She was one of the first to be set up in the USSR. Quite often it was staged 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 play of Beaumarchais made an indelible impression on Mozart. The composer decided to write the opera "The Marriage of Figaro", based on the work of a famous playwright.

The composer started writing it in 1785, in December. A couple of months the work was ready, and on May 1, 1786, the opera premiered. Unfortunately, she did not receive such success and recognition as Mozart had hoped. "The Marriage of Figaro" became famous only at the end of the year, after the production in Prague. Opera consists of 4 actions. For its performance, scores are written, which involve the participation of stringed instruments, timpani. Also used are two flutes, pipes, horns, two oboes, bassoon and clarinet.

For basso continuo, cellos and harpsichord are used. It is well known that at the premiere of the opera Mozart himself conducted the orchestra. Thus, thanks to Beaumarchais, the opera "The Marriage of Figaro" by Mozart appeared.

The screen version of the play Beaumarchais

The first screen version 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 attempts at screening 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 actors. It was this production that was decided to be screened in 1974, five years after the first show on the stage of the theater. This screen version was recognized as one of the best, largely due to the actors who played the main roles.

In 2003, the play was screened again. For her shooting, the Russian and Ukrainian TV channels together took part and created a New Year musical based on the play. This film adaptation did not have such success as the first film. She was remembered by everyone as an ordinary entertainment show.

The 1974 film

Due to the popularity of the performance, it was decided to record it for television. For the first time the film was shown on television in 1974, on April 29. The film 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, Mozart's music was used in the film. Film was shown more than once on TV, she was one of the 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 scene in 1987 and soon died, he was given this performance. Every time his name is remembered at the end of the play.

The column in the TV version was played by Alexander Shirvindt, his wife - Vera Vasilyeva. The role of Suzanne was played by Nina Kornienko, and Marcelina by Tatiana Peltzler. As for Cherubino, in the TV version he is played by Alexander Voevodin, and not by Boris Galkin, as in the original play.

Musical

In 2003, it was decided to shoot a musical based on a play. TV channels "Inter" and NTV took up the project. According to the established tradition for filming, the stars of Ukrainian and Russian stage were invited. The author of the script and the director was Semen Gorov, the composer - Vitaly Okorokov.

The film "The Marriage of Figaro" was filmed in the Crimea, using the Vorontsov Palace as the main decoration . To the film was released a disc with songs that sounded in the production. 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 just a pale parody of it.

Despite this, quite often you can see the film "The Marriage of Figaro" on television. The musical has become quite popular today. The reason for this - 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. Considering that there are many songs in the film, it would be inappropriate to invite ordinary actors for these purposes. In addition, it was not the first New Year project of Inter, and for many artists this musical was not the first.

The role of Figaro was performed by Boris Khvoshnyanskiy. Count and Countess played Philip Kirkorov and Lolita Milyavskaya. The role of Susanna was entrusted to Anastasia Stotskaya.

In addition, such films as Boris Moiseyev, 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 this is one of the best plays in the world of drama. Despite belonging to classicism, it also has innovative notes. So, Beaumarchais raises in the play the problem of how aristocrats are sometimes foolish and how low their desires are. The author shows that not always an ordinary person who does not have aristocratic education turns out to be stupid.

This play is also interesting and its content, language, jokes and funny situations.

Unfortunately, today the play of Beaumarchais is not included in the list of compulsory literature for reading, and few know its contents. Also, not all universities consider it compulsory to study it. Is that fans of drama and book lovers are interested in it.

Thus, today not everyone knows about Beaumarchais' play "The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro", and many even think that it is only a beautiful musical composed by Gorov.

Conclusion

Play Beaumarchais, having survived more than one century, is still read by people who are interested in classics, especially dramaturgy. It was staged on the stage all over the world, it is quite popular in Russia. According to the book, several films were shot, two of which are produced domestically. One is filmed for a theatrical production, the second is an 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 TV, but also in the famous Lenkom Theater. It is there that they show one of the best productions of Beaumarchais' play. The play 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 practically on the stage of the theater, without leaving the image of his hero.