On May 1^st, 1786, something quite unique and extraordinary was premiered at a private court theater in Vienna. When Mozart had announced to the world that he and his Italian librettist friend, Lorenzo Da Ponte had created something totally new and unique, it was not idle sales hype. “Le Nozze di Figaro” was totally unlike any opera that the world had ever before heard.In opera, whether serious or comic, the standard formula was an alternating pattern of recitative and aria, with an occasional duet and maybe one or two choral pieces (The French and British preferred more choral numbers in their operas). The action was carried forth in the recitatives, and each aria would represent the singer’s reaction to the preceding action. Each aria was sort of an emotional vignette.

In Mozart’s “Figaro” for the first time in history, the plot was carried forth in the music itself, the action being reflected in the very essence of the music. For the most part, Mozart did not invent any new forms or styles. But he did invent the opera ensemble. Never before had there been an opera in which the characters sang together in an ensemble, carrying forth the plot while singing. Mozart combined his mastery of German counterpoint (honed to a tee by his study of J.S Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier) and combined it with his masterful talent of Italianate melody, and created something totally new in the history of opera.

The classical style, with its symmetrical forms (especially sonata form) naturally lent itself to depiction of dramatic action. Mozart was the first composer to recognize this. In each and every aria, the music starts off securely in a key, modulates to the dominant, becomes complex and harmonically unstable in the middle, and then returns to the home key and tends toward simplicity as it resolves the harmonic tensions. Each act in “Figaro” does the same thing on a larger, and somewhat more loosely knit way than the individual numbers. In fact the opera as a whole is laid out in such a way. The first act is more simple, musically speaking, and the intensity and complexity builds up and reaches a peak in the finale of the second act, with the complexity and harmonic tension gradually lessening until the simplicity of the last section of the finale to act four.

The opera begins with a rousing, but not too complex overture. Unlike his other overtures, this one contains no musical themes from the opera, but its exciting rhythms and nervous sounding themes perfectly foreshadow the action that is to come.

The opera is based on a French play by a man named Beaumarchais. It is a sequel to a play called, “The Barber of Seville” which he had written earlier. By writing “Figaro” Beaumarchais had gotten himself into trouble. It was full of political intrigue and was highly critical of the aristocracy. Louis the 16th put a price on his head for writing that play and he fled to England for sanctuary. Contrary to what you may have seen in the movie “Amadeus,” the play had not been banned by the Austrian emperor, Joseph the 1st. It was considered risky to put on a production of that play in Austria, because of the political implications, but it had not been banned. Besides, Da Ponte had taken most of the political intrigue out of the play when he wrote the libretto. Nonetheless, the opera does depict a commoner getting the best of an aristocrat. Mozart seemed to enjoy walking on the edge, toeing that fine line between bending the rules, and breaking them.

After “Figaro” Da Ponte and Mozart collaborated on two more operas, “Cosi Fan Tutti” and “Don Giovanni.” All three of those operas are highly charged with sexual content and all three are masterfully composed by Mozart.

One thing that I might mention here is that the Catholic Church at that time, was still castrating the young boys who had the best voices in the choir. These castrati were able to sing soprano all of their lives. Many of them in the eighteenth century had left the church and joined opera companies. Composers wrote certain roles specifically for castrati. Handel had composed for them and so did Mozart. In “Figaro,” the character of the page boy Cherubino was originally written by Mozart for a castrato. Since we no longer have castrati, Cherubino is portrayed by a woman in modern performances.

The curtain rises with Figaro measuring the bedroom that he and his bride-to-be will share, so that he will know if the bed will fit. His fiancée, Susanna is showing him a hat that she made for herself and he is ignoring her because he is focused on measuring the floor. Finally he acknowledges her and they sing together. This lovely duet is followed by a short recitative, and another duet with Figaro and Susanna. The first act follows the old pattern of alternating arias (sometimes duets) and recitatives until the seventh number, which is a trio. After a short and simple choral number Figaro sings a rousing aria to close act one.

Act two opens with one of Mozart’s most beautiful arias. The countess makes her first appearance and sings an aria in which she laments the fact that the count has been unfaithful and no longer loves her. The loneliness and despair, the deep sorrow and pain is depicted masterfully by Mozart. Act two has three arias, a trio, and a duet before the finale. The act two finale is the climax of the entire opera and is a tour de force of dramatic action. It is one of Mozart’s greatest accomplishments. It consists of about twenty minutes of music with no recitative. It begins with the count and countess arguing, and as each character enters, one by one, the music becomes more and more complex. I love this finale! My favorite part is when Susanna comes out of the closet, and the count, expecting to see Cherubino come out, becomes very confused and surprised. I love the action as well as the music. Another highlight for me is when Figaro laughs out loud, “ha ha ha ha” three Gs in a row, followed by “ha ha ha ha” three more Gs and an F-sharp. In my opinion, there are very few singers who can pull this off well, with the necessary volume and emotion.

Act three begins with a duet which is followed by a recitative and a beautiful aria. This aria is followed by a sextet of which Mozart was very proud, and rightly so, as it is a perfect masterpiece. This sextet is in sonata form, but without a development section. It is exquisitely constructed, and a pivotal plot point occurs during its course. The finale of the third act is exciting and has some wonderful music in it, though it is not quite as complex as the finale of the second act.

The fourth act follows the pattern of recitative and aria until the finale begins. There are some beautiful arias in this act. In fact there are stunningly beautiful arias in every act of “Figaro.” The finale resolves all of the tension in the opera, both musically speaking, and in reference to the plot. In one beautiful and most tender moment, the count begs the countess for forgiveness. She forgives him. Figaro and Susanna forgive him. Everyone is happy and the finale ends with a jubilant allegro assai.

Mozart’s great operas do not represent the beginning of a new trend in opera. They are the culmination of a tradition. Beethoven was influenced mostly by Mozart when composing his “Fidelio” but for other composers, they were turning to the new style of grand opera. After Mozart, opera went back to the old pattern of alternation of arias and recitatives. The grace and agility of voice required of singers in Mozart’s operas gave way to the sheer power of voice required by his successors. In the grand opera of the nineteenth century, the human voice becomes just another instrument in the orchestra. And I must say, when listening to Verdi, I find it difficult to tell when the recitative ends and the aria begins. Mozart’s great operas stand alone as the greatest operatic achievements in the entire eighteenth century, Handel notwithstanding. In my opinion, Mozart’s greatest operas are not merely the greatest operas of the eighteenth century, but the greatest operas of all time.