Anne Ozorio wrote:

>As Steve says, the Count uses his power in society to manipulate and harass
>-  so it ever was and alas, shall be.  Droit du seigneur was a
>medieval custom, certainly not common in the eighteenth century.

"Droit du seigneur" didn't exist - it was an 18th-century notion,
symbolizing the power of aristocrats.  It's a bit like with the alleged
bra-burning in the 1960s: a journalist used it as a metaphor, and next
thing you heard were people claiming that it actually happened.  Except
that the 18th-century philosophes invented it knowing it didn't exist.

>Here we have Mozart using a coded device to express a theme.  The opera
>was performed in contemporary dress, not medieval costume.  Maybe Mozart
>misunderstood the libretto,  ...

Not a chance.  I don't see what makes you think so.

>...  but da Ponte was a rogue who made telling comments on society,
>which the audience picked up on with delight - those were interesting
>times when authoritarianism was being questioned, and the secret police
>could drag you away if you were too overt.

True, but compared with the extremely sharp social critique in
Beaumarchais' play, Da Ponte's libretto is pure shallow entertainment.

-Margaret Mikulska