It's about money, power, pleasure, letters, intrigues, disguises, the army, and the question of who's in charge in the complex power structure and who's just flexing their muscles. It's about love, too, but only marginally.
Based on the second part of the Figaro trilogy by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte transformed a biting social comedy into a witty opera that explores every emotion and deception. And so, Figaro and Susanna's simple request to simply get married sets a ball rolling that will sweep everything along with it, question existing relationships, and end up in court before it reaches the justice of the peace.
Did you know? The word "nozze" (wedding) is sung a total of eleven times in Mozart's opera. While that may seem a small number in a two-and-a-half-hour work, the many variations surrounding the marriage vow are explored on stage. The topics include love marriages, common-law marriages, married couples, marital beds, marriage contracts, premarital sex, extramarital affairs, illegitimate children, marital crises, adultery, and, in fact, a stage couple even enters the holy state of matrimony.
Premiere May 10, 2025
Further performances: 17, 25 and 30 May, 8 and 15 June 2025
