I've been sent the following request. I've got a limited amount of information on old Italian units, but I thought I'd broadcast this in case anyone has more info:
>Hello, my name is Matt Murphy. I am directing Mozart's "Le Nozze de Figaro" >and I have a question about a unit of measurement. Maybe somebody there can >help me! > >At the beginning of the opera, Figaro is measuring an area within a certain >room of the castle to see if his bed will fit nicely into that area. Its the >first words of the opera-he sings consecutively, Five(cinque), 10, 20, 30, >37, and 43. Now, I would like to be logical about this, and I can't see any >way to make him actually be measuring a length comparable to 43 feet for a >bed, let alone covering that large of an area in the 16 bars that Mozart >allows for! So I am wondering what Italian unit of measurement at the end of >the 18th century would have made logical sense for the librettist Lorenzo Da >Ponte to go as high as 43 when measuring for a bed. Any ideas? > >One final question, what would Figaro have been using for a measuring device >at the end of the 18th century? Could it have been something that folded out >to be a large measuring stick, or would he have just had something like a >stick or a sword or something "barbaric" like that. If you can help me with >these questions, I promise the opera Gods will shine on you, and when we get >our production up and running your name will be big and bold under the >special thanks in the program! > >Thank you for your time and knowledge. > >Cheers, > >Matt -- UK Metric Association: http://www.metric.org.uk/
