The Marriage of Figaro (1960 film)

The Marriage of Figaro
Based on	opera The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart
Directed by	Alan Burke
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
Production
Running time	120 mins
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	17 February 1960 (1960-02-17) (Sydney)
Release	6 May 1960 (1960-05-06) (Melbourne)[1]

The Marriage of Figaro is a 1960 Australian TV film. It was a filmed version of Mozart's 1786 opera, sung in English.^[2]

Cast

• Valda Bagnall as Susanna
• Geoffrey Chard as Figaro
• Heather McMillan
• Russell Smith
• Marie Tysoe as Cherubino

Production

Marie Tyso had appeared in several other operas for the ABC. She was used to doing them live but this one involved pre-recorded music. "It was a much better way to do it," she said. "Of course, we now had to mime during the performance. We did the dialogue live. Alan Burke was the producer – he was wonderful to work with."^[3]

It was the sixth opera broadcast live from the ABC in Sydney and the first two-hour one done live in Australia. Settings for the four acts were devised in one unit to enable aimed at keeping the action moving continuously.^[4]

Reception

The critic for The Sydney Morning Herald praised the singing and set, saying it was "a distinguished live telecast ... producer Alan Burke boldly moved his cast about through ... [the] elaborate and fanciful set with great zest and speed."^[5]

See also

• List of television plays broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1960s)

References

1. "TV Strikes Blow for Opera". The Age. 12 May 1960. p. 27.
2. Interview with Jim Wilkinson, by Bob Sitsky, February 2008
3. Interview with Marie Tysoe by Bob Sitsky, 29 September 2006
4. Marshall, Val (14 February 1960). "TV Merry Go Round". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 94.
5. "Opera on TV Sparkled". The Sydney Morning Herald. 18 February 1960. p. 7.

External links

• The Marriage of Figaro at IMDb
• "Crudel! perchè finora" in English on YouTube, from The Bobby Limb Show^{[dubious – discuss]}