Rehearsals have now begun for Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro!
On our recent promotional photoshoot, we caught up with an Opera North audience favourite – Fflur Wyn, who will be making her role debut as Susanna…
Tell us a bit about Susanna.
She is quite feisty! She is one of the servants and therefore of a lower status than the Count or Countess, but even though her status in low, she is actually very mature – probably much more mature than her age. She’s playful and very strong, managing to play the Count and Figaro off against each other, and for me, one of the most well-rounded characters in opera.
Susanna is also one of the biggest roles in the repertoire in terms of time on stage, so it will be a challenge to work up the stamina for that, but I’m really looking forward to it!
What are you most looking forward to about your first Susanna?
I sang Susanna when I was 20 or 21 at a very small garden opera company, but this is my proper role debut and I’m thrilled to be doing it at Opera North. I have been working here since 2005 and this will be my 18th or 19th production with the Company. It feels like coming home whenever I come up to Opera North, so to do this role here is quite special for me.
Fflur Wyn as Sophie backstage during rehearsals for Der Rosenkavalier, 2016 © Tom Arber
Do you have a favourite moment in the piece?
I do, actually! One of my favourite moments is the big reveal in the garden at the end, when the Count finally realises what’s been going on and that he’s been caught. It’s one of the Countess’ moments, when she finally forgives him (‘Contessa, perdono‘). That gives me goosebumps every time! It’s when everyone realises it’s all ok – it’s a real tearjerker moment.
What makes this a great choice for a first opera?
The Marriage of Figaro is perfect to see as your first opera, especially with this production being in English translation – I think some people are worried about opera being in a different language that they don’t understand. It’s light, it’s comedy, there are lots of fantastic characters in it – characters that people in the audience will relate to even though it’s set in period.
Also, the music is fantastic and I’m sure most of the audience, even if they haven’t seen Figaro before, will know the music and recognise a lot of the arias.
