Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro #1

The Opera

What is this opera about?

This is an early Upstairs/Downstairs story.  Count Almaviva is now bored with his Rosina, the girl he courted and married in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and seeks his pleasure elsewhere.  The pleasure he seeks is with the fiance of his servant Figaro who helped in the count's courtship of Rosina.  Figaro is betrayed, but can do nothing.  It is the women who save the day. To keep the plot moving there are plenty of side romances.

More Information

First performed in 1786, the music is Viennese Classical with recitative.
The plot is Lorenzo da Ponte domestic comedy.

At the time Mozart wrote Le Nozze di Figaro (1786), Paisiello had already composed a very popular opera called Il barbiere di Siviglia which was in turn based on a play by Beaumarchais.  Mozart was in step with his era which apparently enjoyed raunchy French comedies.  He and his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte were two souls with one mind.

Mozart's famous operas were all written in the final quarter of the 18th century in a style that included the Italian coloratura found in composers like Paisiello and Salieri, but with a focus on the orchestra that can only be found in Germany.  I think this is the reason that our modern idea of opera generally begins here.  It is easier to hear Baroque operas now, but only Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto is in the top 100 most frequently performed operas.

The Story

Act I

We find ourselves in a storage room in a palazzo where Figaro is measuring the space for a bed.  His fiance Susannah is showing off her veil she has made for the wedding.  The master, Count Almaviva, has promised they will be married.

Cherubino shows up to complain that he falls in love with every woman.  Susannah sympathizes and he makes a pass at her.

Hit Tune

This brief clip is from a recent season at the Metropolitan Opera and features Isabel Leonard as Cherubino.



The Count is trying to prevent the marriage without seeming to.  He is promoting Marcellina's claim that Figaro has promised to marry her as payoff for a large sum of money he borrowed from her.

Act II

Act III

Hit Tune

Here is one of the most frequently played opera films on YouTube.




The two ladies are plotting the Count's undoing.

Act IV

Complete Film

Salzburg Festival 2006. Director: Claus Guth. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt with the Vienna Philharmonics Cast: Ildebrando d´Arcangelo (Figaro) Anna Netrebko (Susanna) Bo Skovhus (Il Conte D'Almaviva) Dorothea Röschmann (La Contessa) Christine Schäfer (Cherubino) Marie McLaughlin (Marcellina) Franz-Josef Selig (Bartolo) Patrick Henckens (Basilio) Oliver Ringelhahn (Don Curzio) Florian Boesch (Antonio) Eva Liebau (Barbarina) Uli Kirsch ([Cherubin :) ] )