Matteo Pais, coach and music coordinator of the Scuola dell'opera italiana in Bologna, joins us this week to talk about two arias from Le nozze di Figaro, Susanna's 4th act aria "Deh, vieni, non tardar" and Cherubino's first aria "Non so più cosa son". We concentrate on Rs in every position, the letter G and what to do when there are millions of vowels in a row.

The libretto for Le nozze di Figaro is can be found at the Opera Guide website here--sometimes it defaults to the main entry page, so you may have to click on Libretto and then on the letter "I" for Italian. "Deh, vieni, non tardar" is almost at the end, Recit and Aria Nr. 28, while Cherubino's aria is close to the beginning, Aria Nr. 6.

Le nozze di Figaro is based on Pierre Beaumarchais' Le mariage de Figaro, the second in a trilogy of plays (which starts with Le Barbier de Séville). The librettist for Mozart's opera, Lorenzo da Ponte led a very colorful life that's worth looking into as well!

As always, please feel free to contact me with questions, comments or suggestions here, at the Facebook page or directly at ellen@ellenrissinger.com