The Marriage of Figaro (1960 film)

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The Marriage of Figaro
Directed byAlan Burke
Based onopera The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart
Distributed byABC
Release dates
17 February 1960 (Sydney)
6 May 1960 (Melbourne)[1]
Running time
120 mins
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

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[edit]

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

Production[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

References[edit]

  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[edit]