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WOLFGANG A M ADEUS MOZART

LE NOZZE DI FIGARO

CONTENTS

SYNOPSIS P.

PREFACE IN THE GERMAN LIBRETTO LORENZO DA PONTE P.

THE COMPLEXITY OF THE FOLLIES OF A DAY PHILIPPE JORDAN

LOVE IS A VERB INTERVIEW WITH BARRIE KOSKY P.

HOW SUSANNA TAUGHT THE COUNT SOCIAL MORES SILKE LEOPOLD P.

CHERUBINO’S ART NIKOLAUS STENITZER P.

IMPRINT

WOLFGANG A M ADEUS MOZART

LE NOZZE DI FIGARO COMEDIA PER MUSICA in four acts Text LORENZO DA PONTE after La folle journée ou Le mariage de Figaro by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais

ORCHESTRA

2 flutes / 2 oboes 2 clarinets / 2 bassoons 2 horns / 2 trumpets timpani / strings pianoforte

AUTOGRAPH Deutsche Staatsbibliothek Berlin Biblioteka Jagiellońska Krakau WORLD PREMIÈRE 1 MAY 1781 Vienna Court Opera at the Altes Burgtheater FIRST PERFORMANCE 15 OCTOBER 1870 Opera house on the Ring DURATION

3 H 30 MIN

INCL. 1 INTERMISSION

LE NOZZE DI FIGARO

SYNOPSIS ACT 1 The morning of Susanna and Figaro’s wedding day. Figaro is measuring the room that Count Almaviva has set aside for Susanna and him. Susanna is not happy with the room, which is situated between the private chambers of the Count and Countess. She explains to Figaro that the Count is regretting abol ishing the droit de seigneur, the right of the lord of the manor to spend the first night with every new bride. Now, the Count is making advances to her. He chose the room to be close to Susanna. Figaro swears to frustrate the Count’s plans. Marcellina wants to press old claims against Figaro. She lent him money earlier. If he can’t repay, he has to marry her, accor ding to the contract. Doctor Bartolo supports his housekeeper Marcellina, to be revenged upon Figaro. Bartolo once wanted to marry the new Countess himself, before the Count cut him out – with Figaro’s help. The page, Cherubino, asks Susanna for help. The Count had caught him in the room of Susanna’s cousin Barbarina the pre vious evening. Now, the Count wants to dismiss him. He asks Susanna to ask the Countess to put in a good word for Cheru bino. When the Count enters, Cherubino hides. From his hiding place he hears the Count pressuring Susanna. Don Basilio’s voice is heard, and now the Count has to hide, to avoid being caught in a compromising situation. He chooses Cherubino’s hiding place. The page manages to save himself, and Susanna covers him with a piece of cloth. Don Basilio pleads the Count’s cause to Susanna. When he mentions that everyone in the castle has noticed Cherubino’s attraction to the Countess, the Count emerges from his hiding place, furious. Susanna and Basilio try to calm the Count. The Count, however, demonstrates how he caught Cherubino with Barbarina the previous evening. He lifts the cloth Cherubino is hiding under, and discovers him again. Figaro brings in servants who thank the Count for his genero sity in abolishing the droit de seigneur. Figaro asks the Count to put the white scarf on Susanna as a sign of chastity. The Count promises to hold the ceremony, but seeks to delay. Cherubino asks the Count for pardon. The Count gives it, but makes Cherubino an officer in his regiment, which means that the page has to leave for Seville immediately.

Previous pages: HANNA-ELISABETH MÜLLER as COUNTESS ALMAVIVA ANDRÈ SCHUEN as COUNT ALMAVIVA

SYNOPSIS

ACT 2 The Countess laments the loss of her husband’s love. Susanna elaborates about the Count’s attempts to seduce her. Figaro plans a double intrigue. Basilio will bring the Count a let ter accusing the Countess of having an affair. Susanna will ar range a rendezvous with the Count at the same time, and Cheru bino will be sent to this dressed as a woman to deceive the Count. Susanna and the Countess are in the process of disguising Cherubino when the Count knocks at the door. Cherubino is quickly hidden in a closet and the door is locked. Susanna hides as well. The Count, enraged by Figaro’s letter, thinks his wife is with her lover. A sound in the closet seems to confirm his suspicion, and he demands that she opens the door. The Coun tess claims that Susanna is trying on her wedding dress there, and refuses. The Count goes off to fetch tools to break down the door, and forces the Countess to go with him. He locks the door of the Countess’s room from outside. Susanna gets Cherubino out of the closet. The page escapes by jumping into the garden from the balcony. Susanna gets into the closet. The Countess confesses to her husband that Cherubino was in the closet. The Count is enraged and accuses her of infidelity. Then Susanna comes out of the closet. The Count is amazed, the Countess explains that she was just testing him. Figaro had written the compromising letter. Figaro announces the musicians for the wedding. The Count asks him about the letter. Figaro pretends ignorance. The gardener Antonio, Barbarina’s father, comes in raging. Someone had jumped into the garden from the balcony and trampled on his carnations. He suspects Cherubino. Figaro claims that it was he who jumped. Antonio goes to give him the paper that Cherubino lost when he jumped. The Count seizes the paper. It is the page’s commission to the army. With the help of prompting by Susanna and the Countess, Figaro comes up with a plausible explanation. The commission is lacking the seal, which is why the page gave it to him. Marcellina, Bartolo and Basilio demand that Figaro honour the contract with Marcellina. The Count promises to look into it.