Queensland Conservatorium presents what has been called the ‘perfect’ opera – Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, otherwise known as The Marriage of Figaro. Written in a period of enormous social change when class dominance was under threat by the revolutionary ideas emanating from France, da Ponte’s libretto and Mozart’s celebrated score captures each character and situation with a wit and irony that assures its place among the greatest of all operas.
A comic opera about marriage, relationships, infidelity, infatuation and lasting commitment, Le nozze de Figaro is the continuation of the plot of The Barber of Seville set several years later and recounts a single day of madness. It is the wedding day of Figaro and Susanna, who are the valet and maid to the Count and Countess Almaviva. The Count stakes his sexual claim on Susanna in keeping with an ancient custom ascribed to the nobility (droit de seigneur or ‘the right of the lord’) and keeps finding excuses to delay the wedding. Figaro, Susanna and the Countess must conspire to thwart his plans and ensure that everyone ends up with the right partner.