The Marriage of Figaro K. 492

Mozart’s seven great operas, his brilliant contribution to musical theater and world culture, are unequalled in their depth of human characterization and musical expression. Here we have the original score of one of the seven great operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791): Le nozze di Figaro. It is an opera buffa or comic opera, the libretto of which was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749–1838), who collaborated with Mozart on several projects. He successfully adapted a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais (1732–99) and transformed it into an opera libretto as effective as it is amusing. Now considered to be one of the greatest operatic successes of all time, it originally premiered in Vienna on May 1st, 1786 and continues to be one of the most popular operas today. The story tells how the servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna, and teaching him a lesson in fidelity in the process. The original manuscript is accompanied by the conductor’s copy from the first performance in 1786.