melodie-avant-mots - Lacheret

sign of subjectivity will still be exercised, but it will operate in a private aural domain
and elude entrapment by the servants.
Although this suggests a radical re-enactment of "Vedrò," the idea of the
courtroom comes from Beaumarchais, whose subversive play, Le mariage de Figaro,
is the source of the libretto. In the play Act III begins in the Count’s throne room, and
as in the film the Count renders a judgment before the household on Marcellina’s
claim on Figaro. Da Ponte eliminated the courtroom and most of the dialogue, but
distilled the essence into an aria for the Count, sung when he is alone in a room in his
palace. In most performances specific legal consequences do not occur until a few
numbers later. Ponnelle’s recuperation of the courtroom underscores the menace of the
Count and the fear of the other characters. The physical layout follows the play, with
the antagonists on opposite sides.
The Gaze
The gaze in "Vedrò" is another key element in the visual apparatus that
replaces the heard voice. For characters inside the fiction the gaze assumes the
rhetorical and discursive force of the voice; it takes over many of the functions of
normal operatic music in opera film. For spectators outside the fiction, for whom the
heard voice is real, the gaze views the fictional gaze and its relation to the interior
voice. As for the Count, the voice he hears in his mind’s ear interacts with his powers
of looking. The camera is often centered on his looking, situating the Count’s visual
signature in cinematic point-of-view. In Ponnelle’s hands the technique exaggerates
the subjectivity of the Count and visualizes his obsession with power over Figaro.
Figaro’s inability to hear the Count’s voice robs him of some of the Count’s
knowledge, but it also raises the stakes in the eye-to-eye contact. Especially near the
end, extreme close-ups of eyes show their relationship as a battle of wills.
The Count, on a raised throne, invokes a controlling gaze in the number. When
the Count enters, he stares at Figaro, who bows to his superior. The visual pun on
"Vedrò" ("Will I see") is striking, as the Count’s eyes measure the object of his
contempt—as if looking could dispel the outcome he fears. The ironic coupling
becomes a trope in the number. Moreover, sharply angled shots and strong point-ofview
increase the subjective tension. Near the end of part 1 of the aria, accelerated
images and expectant timpani rolls tell us something is about to happen.
Part two brings change. With a faster tempo comes the first decisive visual
gesture, as the Count sits down on the throne. The text is also different from here, for
it addresses Figaro directly. Ponnelle’s camera reflects the increase in gestural rhythm
in the music. The battle between the Count and Figaro intensifies through shot and
counter-shot in which eyes fill the frame. The culminating coloratura has a sustained
tight shot of the Count’s eyes—as if vocal virtuosity crowns his mastery over his
servant. Ponnelle may be suggesting that Figaro is so intimidated, that this is what his
fevered mind sees. I see it more as the camera’s gaze into what the Count believes he
is accomplishing over Figaro: dominating him with his power. It shows the voice’s
message rather than its effect on its object.
The voice in "Vedrò" could be considered a lawless voice because it operates
outside the usual constraints of vocal representation. Yet here the Law is invoked in
the story. The Count uses legal power to reassert social control. He suppresses the
heard or lawful voice, which becomes a tool of manipulation by others, and supplants
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