Description

Mozart knew Paisiello’s Barbiere well, since the opera had been performed very successfully in Vienna in 1783 and the two composers had met the following year. So when the second play about this bustling barber appeared in Paris and was met by great acclaim and great scandal, it seemed logical to try to recreate the success Paisiello had with the first Beaumarchais play with the second. However, Mozart and Da Ponte were forced to considerably tone down the politically explosive original in order to receive permission to perform their version at the Vienna Court Opera. In the libretto, Da Ponte concentrated particularly on the problematical emotional relationships between the characters, thereby providing the perfect canvas for Mozart’s compositional skill: his music adds depth to the characters to a degree that has scarcely been matched in the history of opera since and turns the comedy into a psychological drama.

Several years have passed since the events in Seville surrounding the marriage of Rosina to the Count, and the love between the Count and Countess has cooled somewhat. The Count is on the lookout for new subjects worthy of his favours, while the Countess is adored by the young page, Cherubino. Figaro has remained in the Count’s service and now wishes to marry Susanna, the Countess’ chambermaid. In the 18th century, the aristocracy had the “ius primae noctis”, the droit du seigneur: a lord had the right to deflower the brides of his subjects. But around 1780 Count Almaviva wishes to appear enlightened and does away with the right to his possessions. Faced with Susanna’s beauty, however, he starts to regret his progressiveness. He can no longer insist on his right, but must resort to seduction and cunning in order to trap her. But Figaro and Susanna succeed in maintaining their sexual autonomy as a married couple. They thwart the Count’s schemes with plots of their own, and the Count realizes that in his servant he has an adversary who is every bit his equal.