Encountering Cherubino

If you are a young male, between the ages of 12 and 25, or you have ever been a young male, you may know what it is like to experience the feelings of a character like Cherubino.

In Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, the page boy (pronounced in English as Kerubeeno) is about 15 years old.  He has rampaging hormones.  He is confused about his identity.  He is beginning to enjoy chasing after females.  His boss forces him to join the army.

Most 15 year old boys do not understand enough about themselves to express the music as Mozart intended.  That is why Cherubino is played by an adult female singer, usually a mezzo soprano.

I sometimes wonder if Cherubino is Mozart.  The composer had a reputation for challenging authority, especially that of the second Prince Archbishop of Salzburg to employed him, Count Hieronymus Joseph Franz de Paula Graf Colloredo von Wallsee und Melz.

All I know is that there is nothing new about rebellious teenagers.