Muscat’s magical Mozart moments

By Maurice Gent, Opera Critic -

This was an important moment in the fast growing history of the Royal Opera House Muscat. The Vienna State Opera, argued by many to be the best opera house in the world visited the ROHM to perform one of Mozart’s most famous and best loved works, “The Marriage of Figaro”.

Of course the house was packed for a performance, which was a milestone in the history of the ROHM, signifying without doubt it has now become of world significance. There was definitely an atmosphere of joy and achievement, a recognition that yet another goal of achievement had been successfully reached.
Mozart did not have a long life, frequently struggling with illness and financial difficulties, but his ambition and determination to achieve greatness never waned. He was fortunately favoured
by many of the rich and famous in a struggle for patronage and acceptance.
His adaptability in writing and composing many different styles during times of personal physical crisis led to his survival and fame.
It was a remarkable performance because he could still involve himself in comic plots about the rich and famous.
The Marriage of Figaro offers a window on the world of the rich and famous and the deceits they willingly adopt to achieve their aims. Mozart’s characters are caught up in a web of intrigue and counter intrigue without a thought about the morality of their decisions. The morality is often highly questionable, but that is swept away by music, which is joyous, tuneful and almost divine in aspiration and inspiration.

In this and other operas Mozart was able to compose works of social comment, which made fun of the aspirations of many of the leading characters. It was all possible of course because the characters were fictional yet their actions were very much reflected in people recognisable in everyday life at the time.
It is this reflection of eternal human values and deceits, which makes this work, written in a totally different society many years ago relevant, to an international audience in Muscat in 2013.
The Marriage of Figaro was a very apt choice for this occasion. It showed the depths of human deceit and duplicity but in the end plays out a message of hope that even the worst behaviour is redeemable and it is possible to reform and move towards a better life.
The very fact of the visit itself is important. It is a message worldwide that the ROHM is itself becoming a important institution in the world of international opera.
— Pictures by Khalid al Busaidi