Largo Al Factotum

Rossini - Largo al factotum

Gioachino ROSSINI (1792 – 1868) Gioachino Rossini was born in Pesaro to a family of musicians. His dad was a horn-playing slaughterhouse inspector(!) and his mum, a singer. Rossini completed 40 operas and was nicknamed “The Italian Mozart”. Largo al factotum is from the opera The Barber of Seville which features a character called Figaro and that word, ‘Figaro’, becomes a much- repeated refrain in this song. The character is a servant and he is singing about people calling his name and asking him to go here and there and do everything. The song is very difficult to sing and is a real showpiece for the singer. Classroom Activities

Listening task 1: Listen and Draw

For this task you will need a recording of Largo al factotum by Rossini (in Italian). You can adapt this task to work with any piece of operatic singing especially if the singing is not in English

1. Explain to your class that you are going to play them a famous song from an opera. You might want to have a discussion about what an opera is (it’s just a play set to music). Explain further that in this song the man is singing in Italian so they probably won’t understand the words, they have to try to get the meaning from how he is singing and from the speed and mood of the music.

2. Explain that the man in the song is very busy, he is a servant and he is complaining.

3. Give out paper and pens and as you listen together for the first time, ask your class to draw the man in the middle of their page. Remind them that he is a servant and ask them to draw him from head to toe, standing still and waiting

4. After they have heard the song once, check if they noticed the word ‘Figaro’ and explain that this is the man’s name. Every time the singer sings ‘Figaro’ he is mimicking his boss ordering him around. For example, he might be saying: ‘Figaro, come here’ or ‘Figaro, go there’ or ‘Figaro, fetch coffee’ etc. Ask your students to write “FIGARO!” in big capital letters at the top of their page

5. Listen to your recording again and this time ask your students to add a list of commands onto their picture thus surrounding their image of Figaro with a list of tasks for the servant. These can be as silly or serious as they want. Again, they must listen to the music and try to work out what it’s about.

6. Finally, have a look at their pictures and discuss their ideas. Are there any elements that everyone agrees on or are they all very different? You could even listen again and try acting some of the commands out!