Opera guides
Le nozze di Figaro: synopsis, roles, arias and diction notes
Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) in one page: Da Ponte's libretto, premiere, voice types, the famous arias and Italian diction notes.
Diction Desk editors · Checked 19 October 2026 against 3 sources
Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) is a commedia per musica in four acts, composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte1. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 17861. The main characters are Figaro, Susanna, Count Almaviva, the Countess and Cherubino1.
- Composer
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart1
- Librettist
- Lorenzo Da Ponte1
- Premiere
- 1 May 1786, Burgtheater, Vienna1
- Language
- Italian1
- Acts
- 41
- Source play
- Beaumarchais, 17841
Contents
Mozart and Da Ponte turned a banned play into a comedy of one crazy day in a count’s palace. This page gives the facts a singer needs before opening the vocal score. It is one of the guides in the operas section.
At a glance
Le nozze di Figaro is a commedia per musica (opera buffa) in four acts, composed in 1786 by Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte1. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 17861. The libretto is based on Beaumarchais’s 1784 stage comedy La folle journée1. The action takes place on a single day, in the palace of Count Almaviva near Seville1,2. A typical performance lasts around three hours1.
Who’s who
| Role | Voice type | Premiere singer |
|---|---|---|
| Figaro, the count’s valet | Bass (bass-baritone today) | Francesco Benucci1 |
| Susanna, the countess’s maid | Soprano | Nancy Storace1 |
| Count Almaviva | Baritone | Stefano Mandini1 |
| Countess Rosina Almaviva | Soprano | Luisa Laschi1 |
| Cherubino, the count’s page | Soprano breeches role (mezzo-soprano today) | Dorotea Bussani1 |
| Bartolo, doctor and lawyer | Bass | Francesco Bussani1 |
| Basilio, music teacher | Tenor | Michael Kelly1 |
| Barbarina, Susanna’s cousin | Soprano | Anna Gottlieb1 |
Michael Kelly sang both Basilio and Don Curzio at the premiere1. In modern practice Cherubino and Marcellina are usually sung by mezzo-sopranos and Figaro by a bass-baritone1. Mozart and his contemporaries never used the terms mezzo-soprano or baritone, and women’s roles were listed only as soprano or contralto1.
Synopsis
Three years before the opera begins, Figaro helped Count Almaviva marry Rosina, whom the count stole from Dr Bartolo2. Marcellina holds a contract that says Figaro must repay money he owes her or marry her himself2.
Act 1
Figaro measures the space where the bridal bed will fit while Susanna tries on her wedding bonnet1. Bartolo, seeking revenge on Figaro, agrees to represent Marcellina in her suit1. Cherubino describes his infatuation with all women and asks Susanna for help1. The count discovers Cherubino hidden behind the chair and sends him to his regiment in Seville, effective immediately1. Figaro gives Cherubino mocking advice about the harsh military life ahead1.
Act 2
The Countess laments her husband’s infidelity in her opening aria1. Figaro plans to distract the count with anonymous letters warning him of adulterers, and Susanna urges Cherubino to sing the song he wrote for the Countess1. Cherubino hides in the closet and locks the door as the count arrives; when the closet is opened, they find only Susanna1. The Act 2 finale ends with Figaro pretending to have injured his foot after the jump, and the count postpones the wedding1.
Act 3
Susanna gives the count a false promise to meet him in the garden that night1. The discussion about Marcellina’s suit reveals that Figaro is the long-lost illegitimate son of Bartolo and Marcellina1. Susanna sees Figaro with Marcellina, has a tantrum and slaps his face1. The Countess dictates a love letter for Susanna to send the count, proposing a meeting under the pines1. Barbarina asks for Cherubino’s hand in marriage, and the count is forced to agree1.
Act 4
Figaro swears to be avenged on the count, on Susanna and on all unfaithful wives1. Susanna and the Countess arrive, each dressed in the other’s clothes1. Figaro mistakes Susanna for the Countess, then recognizes her voice1. The count kneels and pleads for forgiveness, and the Countess forgives her husband1. Everyone sets out to celebrate1.
The famous arias
| Number (first line) | Role | Act | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Se vuol ballare, signor contino | Figaro (cavatina) | Act 1 | Should you wish to dance, little Sir Count1 |
| Non più andrai | Figaro, to Cherubino | Act 1 | No more will you go wandering1 |
| Non so più cosa son | Cherubino | Act 1 | I can no longer tell what I am1 |
| Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro | Countess | Act 2 | Love, bring me a little ease1 |
| Voi che sapete che cosa è amor | Cherubino, for the Countess | Act 2 | A song Susanna urges him to sing1 |
Mozart uses the sound of two horns playing together to represent cuckoldry in Figaro’s Act 4 aria, and Verdi later used the same device in Ford’s aria in Falstaff1. Two arias from Act 4, Marcellina’s and Basilio’s, are often omitted1.
In the original
The first lines below are set out for study. The translation is ours and literal.
| Original | Our translation |
|---|---|
| Se vuol ballare, signor contino1 | Should you wish to dance, little Sir Count |
| Non più andrai1 | No more will you go wandering |
| Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro1 | Love, bring me a little ease |
| Voi che sapete che cosa è amor1 | You who know what love is |
Background and premiere
Mozart selected Beaumarchais’s play and brought it to Da Ponte (1749 to 1838)3, who turned it into a libretto in six weeks, rewriting it in poetic Italian1. The Austrian censor had forbidden performing the German version of the play, and Da Ponte obtained official approval from the emperor for an operatic version1. Emperor Joseph II had objected that the piece contained much that is objectionable1. The idea of servants revolting against their masters caused outrage among the aristocracy2. Da Ponte replaced Figaro’s climactic speech against inherited nobility with an angry aria against unfaithful wives1.
The company paid Mozart 450 florins for the work, and Da Ponte was paid 200 florins1. Mozart conducted the first two performances seated at the keyboard, the custom of the day1. The first production was given eight further performances, all in 1786, and the premiere was a success1. The Emperor ruled that no piece for more than a single voice was to be repeated1. The Prague production, which began in December 1786, was a tremendous success and led to the commission of Don Giovanni1.
For the 1789 revival Mozart wrote two replacement arias for Susanna for Adriana Ferrarese1. Cecilia Bartoli sang Susanna with those arias in a series of Metropolitan Opera performances in 19981. The Act 2 finale lasts 20 minutes and is one of the longest uninterrupted pieces Mozart ever wrote1. Brahms judged that each number in Figaro is a miracle1. The opera appears consistently among the top ten on the Operabase list of most frequently performed operas1.
Language and diction notes
The libretto is Italian, so prepare the text with Italian diction for singers before you open the score. The recitativi secchi are accompanied by a keyboard instrument, usually a fortepiano or a harpsichord, often joined by a cello1. Speak the recitative as dialogue first, in the rhythm of the words, then add the pitches.
Learn the ensembles line by line. Eight of the opera’s 11 characters appear on stage in its more than 900 bars of continuous music1.
Where to go next
Figaro continues the plot of The Barber of Seville several years later, and the Count has degenerated from the romantic youth of the Barber into a scheming, bullying, skirt-chasing baritone1. For a setting of that earlier play, see Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia. For a German-language Mozart score, read The Magic Flute. To place these roles by voice type, read the Fach system guide.
