Droit du seigneur
In Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro", which premiered in 1786 with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, the comic plot revolves around the successful efforts of the young bride and groom, Figaro and Susanna, to block the efforts of the unfaithful Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna. To achieve his aim, the frustrated Count threatens to reinstitute "droit du seigneur". It was based on a play by Pierre Beaumarchais.
Thomas Allen (baritone)
Allen's first book, "Foreign Parts – A Singer's Journal" was published in 1993. In November 2002, he directed for the first time in Britten's "Albert Herring" at the Royal College of Music. Other directorial credits include Mozart's "Così fan tutte" and "Don Giovanni" (for Samling, of which he is the patron) at the Sage Music Centre in Gateshead. In 2006, he made his American directorial debut with a production of Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" for Arizona Opera. In 2007, he directed a new production of "The Barber of Seville" for Scottish Opera. He has directed a new production of "The Marriage of Figaro" for the company which premiered in Glasgow in October 2010. He also performed as the Narrator/Dr. Pangloss in the 2005 concert of Leonard Bernstein's "Candide" at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York City.