| Well, I think it's a very loose sort of statement...some of Mozart's operas involved marriage, but, correct me if I'm wrong, I can't think of any Mozart opera that actually ends with a wedding. The Marriage of Figaro has much preparation for marriages within it (Figaro and Susanna, Figaro's parents, and between various villagers on a traditional wedding day), but it actually ends with the reconiliation of the Count and Countess, with the Count promising to mend his "errant ways". Cosi Fan Tutte comes close. Guglielmo and Ferrando are planning to marry Dorabella and Fiordiligi, but on the advice of an older, cynical man, are persuaded to test the womens' faithfulness. So, the men take the wager, disguise themselves as "Albanians", and woo each other's fiance. Anyway, it turns out these gals are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, and they do fall for it...it's all humorous and very tongue-in-cheek. So, at the end, the marriage contracts are drawn up, but then Guglielmo and Ferrando reveal their ruse, much to everyone's confusion and embarrassment. The old meddler advises that they marry anyway (though "a marriage" technically doesn't take place)...the characters are made a little wiser and more forgiving, I guess. The Abduction from the Seralio is another with a romantic sort of theme, but there are no weddings there either. And that's all the Mozart operas that come to mind with marriage as a theme (though I might well be missing a couple)... So, IMO, it is not a very accurate statement...and, in particular, the reference to "three betrothals" is puzzling. Maybe the reviewer is getting confused with For the Love of Three Oranges, LOL! Actually, to my mind (and it's probably not statistically correct either, but it amuses me to say it) , it might be more accurate to say that "most" operas end with the tragic death of the heroine by a variety of means...stabbing, consumption, leaps from balconies, etc.. Yikes, it's dangerous being an opera heroine, LOL! |
