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