Le Nozze de Figaro Opera - Fascinating Facts

Mozart's opera Le Nozze de Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro in English) is one of the most popular operas today, according to Opera Sense it is the eighth most popular opera in the world and is performed around 430 times a year. The Metropolitan Opera will show Le Nozze de Figaro 15 times between November 2019 and February 2020.

With bubbling overtures and vibrant arias it tells the story of a single day, where Figaro wants to marry Susanna, but the philandering Count Almaviva does everything he can to stop them, as he has fallen for Susanna too, despite being married to Countess Rosina.

It is a sequel to Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), though works as a stand-along opera. The text was written in 1778 by Lorenzo Da Ponte and the music composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and caused considerable controversy at the time, as it mocked the nobility, causing it to be banned initially in Vienna by Emperor Joseph II and later censored in France and a number of other countries. Once some of the more controversial scenes had been edited (e.g. a passionate aria denouncing the nobility changed to one denouncing faithless wives), the opera was once more accepted.

Le Nozze de Figaro is around three hours in length and Emperor Joseph II insisted that, "No piece for more than a single voice is to be repeated" as it received so many encores that the three hours extended considerably.

The Imperial Italian opera company paid Mozart 450 florins for Le Nozze de Figaro, which was around three times as much as he normally earned in a year when working in Salzburg as a court musician.

Mozart's overture from the opera was also used in the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and is a popular concert piece too.

The main roles in the opera are:

• Count Almaviva - baritone
• Countess Rosina Almaviva - soprano
• Susanna, the Countess's maid - soprano
• Figaro, the Count's valet - bass
• Cherubino, the Count's page - soprano
• Dr. Bartolo, doctor and lawyer - bass
• Marcellina, Doctor Bartolo's housekeeper - soprano
• Basilio, music teacher - tenor
• Don Curzio, judge - tenor
• Barbarina, Antonio's daughter - soprano
• Antonio, the gardener - bass
• Choir of other servants and villagers

You can watch a full video of The Marriage of Figaro by the Berlin Opera Academy and read a detailed summary of the opera, including what each aria means. The Berlin Opera Academy trains young singers to develop their classical voices while rehearsing one of the classic operas.

In this performance Figaro is played by Tormey Woods, a talented young singer, who was singing bass for the role of Figaro, but has recently moved to singing baritone. Tormey has performed operas with the Montpellier National Opera since 2014 and is currently studying at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. The soprano Elen Lloyd Roberts is Susanna, Elen is a graduate of Durham University and has an MA Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music in London. Count Almaviva is played by Rui Ma and Contessa Almaviva by Alice Wielant.

I'm a passionate opera lover and in particular am a huge fan of Mozart.