Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492: Overture

Program notes

About the Work

Le nozze di Figaro (“The Marriage of Figaro”) was the first of Mozart’s three operas with the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, followed by Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. Its source was Beaumarchais’s comedy La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro, in which a servant outwits his aristocratic master. The opera opened at the Burgtheater in Vienna in May 1786, with Mozart directing from the keyboard.

The story unfolds over a single “mad day” in the household of Count Almaviva, as his valet Figaro and the maid Susanna try to get married while the Count schemes to seduce Susanna himself. The overture sets the pace for all this intrigue. The overture is in D major and marked Presto, and it is entirely self-contained. Unlike the overtures to The Abduction from the Seraglio, Così fan tutte and The Magic Flute, it neither quotes melodies from the opera nor runs straight into the first scene. Instead it captures the mood of the whole comedy, quick, witty and a little breathless, before a note of the plot has been sung. It is also often played on its own as a concert piece. The result lasts about four minutes.

What to Listen For

The overture begins with a hushed, scurrying figure, so quiet and fast that it almost sounds like whispering behind a door. It is easy to miss if the hall is still settling, so listen closely from the very first bar. Then the full orchestra bursts in, with trumpets and timpani. Listen for how often Mozart repeats this pattern of whisper and outburst, and for the chattering woodwind phrases that answer the violins. There is no slow section and no pause for breath: the music drives straight through to a brilliant close, just as the opera’s plot never lets its characters rest.