LE NOZZE DI FIGARO " Le Nozze di Figaro " or " The Marriage of Figaro," subtitled "A Day of Folly," an opera bouffe in four acts, with music by Mozart and text by Lorenza da Ponte, was first presented at the National Theatre, Vienna, May 1, 1786. It is founded on a comedy by Beaumarchais of the same name.
Figaro (the Barber of Seville), valet to the Count.
Count Almaviva, a Spanish Noble. Countess Almaviva, his wife.
Susanna, maid of the Countess, betrothed to Figaro. Cherubino, page to the Countess.
Marcellina, servant to Bartolo. Bartolo, a rejected lover of Susanna. Basilio, a busybody.
Don Curzio.
Antonio, gardener to the Court. Servants, country people, guards.
This opera, though written previously, is in a sense a continuation of Rossini's " Barber of Seville," the principal characters being again introduced. The gallant Almaviva, with the assistance of Figaro, has married his adored Rosina, but, as with many truly loving husbands, marriage has not rendered him blind to other tender eyes and he indulges in an occasional flirtation. Just now, the particular object of his fancy is Susanna, the coquettish maid of his wife, the opera opening on the day arranged for her marriage to Figaro. The Countess has a page, Cherubino, a dainty youth of whom she is fond but whom she regards as a child. Cherubino, however, adores his mistress, and proves a facile instrument of punishment for the Count. Figaro, of course, assists quite willingly in the plot. To get rid of the boy, the Count orders him to enter the army, but the women save him by taking him to the Countess and dressing him at the critical moment- as a girl. The Count's suspicions have been aroused by a letter from Basilio and, when he demands admittance to his wife's room, he finds the door locked in his face. When at last it is opened, he perceives that the Countess is much confused and insists upon searching the cabinet, which also is locked. While he is looking about for some means by which to break open the door, Cherubino escapes through the window and Susanna, taking his place, gravely confronts the angry husband when the lock yields.
In a few moments, Antonio, the gardener, comes to complain of the ravages done to his flower beds by some one who jumped out of the window. Figaro, who has arrived, at once declares that he is the guilty one; that he had been having an interview with Susanna and feared the Count's displeasure. When the gardener produces further evidence in the shape of a document which proves to be the page's commission, Figaro glibly explains that he lost it from his own pocket, the page having entrusted it to him for legal reasons.
Bartolo and Marcellina, who have been previously intro duced to sigh for unrequited love, the former for Susanna and the latter for Figaro, now reappear. Marcellina brings with her a marriage contract, which she says Figaro signed with her. She produces Bartolo as a witness. The Count, glad thus to dispose of Figaro, his rival, and to leave Susanna unmarried, decrees that the barber must fulfil the contract but the clever Figaro escapes through being able to prove, by marks on his arm, that he is the son of Marcellina and Bartolo. While he is embracing his new-found mother, Susanna appears and her jealousy is aroused.
The ladies do not consider that the Count's punishment is yet complete and so arrange a nocturnal meeting in the garden. Susanna summons the Count by letter, while the Countess sends for Figaro. They disguise themselves by exchanging apparel and each meets her proper lover. The amorous Cherubino also appears on the scene but is put to flight by the Count. Meantime, the Count makes ardent love to the supposed Susanna. Figaro sees into the trick. but he pretends that he believes his vis-ŕ-vis to be the Countess and so declares his adoration, thereby arousing the maid's jealousy to such a pitch that she is restored to equanimity only by her lover's confession that he knew her from the first.