What happened to Figaro and his friends after the events told in Rossini’s and Mozart’s operas? One possible sequel is told in John Corigliano’s “grand opera buffa” The Ghosts of Versailles—an uproariously funny and deeply moving work inspired by Beaumarchais’s third Figaro play, La Mère Coupable, and commissioned by the Met to celebrate its 100th anniversary. This telecast captures its world premiere run, conducted by James Levine. Håkan Hagegård is Beaumarchais, Figaro’s creator, who is deeply in love with Marie Antoinette (Teresa Stratas in a heart-searing performance) and determined to rewrite history and save her from the guillotine. A young Renée Fleming, at the beginning of her international career, sings the unfaithful Rosina. Gino Quilico is the wily Figaro who tries to take matters in his own hands, and Marilyn Horne stops the show as the exotic entertainer Samira.
as Marie Antoinette
as Beaumarchais
as Figaro
as Rosina
as Samira
as Bégearss
as Susanna
as Count Almaviva
as Florestine
as Léon
as Cherubino
as Wilhelm
as Elegant Woman in a Hat
as The Marquis
as Louis XVI
as Suleyman Pasha
as The Pasha's Page
as English Ambassador
as Egyptian Violist
as Gossip
as Gossip
as Gossip
as Lady
