t he r oyal oPera
Music directOr sir antonio PaPPano directOr OF Opera KasPer holten
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO (THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO)
Opera in FOur acts
Music Wolfgang amadeus mozart LibrettO lorenzo da Ponte
the taylor Family Foundation SchoolS' matineeS WHAT SOME OF THE WORDS MEAN
Count and Countess Rich and powerful landowners, favoured by the King and Queen and given the titles of Count and Countess, which makes them important. fiancé When two people are promised to be married to each other, they are fiancés, which means that they will get married soon.
Pageboy A young servant who is responsible for certain aspects of looking after their master, such as dressing them, serving food and delivering letters. THE CHARACTERS
figaro a serVant tO cOunt aLMaViVa and susanna’s FiancÉ
susanna cOuntess aLMaViVa’s Maid and FiGarO’s FiancÉe
Count almaViVa Countess a LandOWner almaViVa WHO’s unFaitHFuL tHe cOunt’s tO His WiFe tHe beautiFuL WiFe cOuntess
CheruBino tHe cOunt’s paGebOY, WHO LOVes bOtH tHe cOuntess and barbarina
marCellina tHe cOunt’s HOuseKeeper, WHO Wants tO MarrY FiGarO Bartolo susanna’s preViOus Guardian, WHO Hates FiGarO
don Curzio a LaWYer
antonio tHe cOunt and cOuntess’s Gardener, and susanna’s uncLe
BarBarina antOniO’s dauGHter, WHO LOVes cHerubinO don Basilio a Music teacHer and GOssip THE STORY
A few years before the start of the opera, Figaro helped Count Almaviva to steal Rosina away from her guardian, an old man called Bartolo. Rosina married the Count and is now the Countess Almaviva. Figaro is working for them as a servant and has fallen in love with the Countess’s maid, Susanna.
The opera takes place during a single day in the country house of Count Almaviva near Seville in Spain. act i a room in the house
On the morning of their wedding, Susanna finds Figaro measuring up the space for a bed. They have been given a room next to the private rooms of the Count and Countess. Susanna tells Figaro that this is a terrible idea as the Count is crazy about her – having a room so close to his will make it easy for him to flirt with her.
Marcellina, the Count’s housekeeper, has lent Figaro a lot of money, and insists that he must marry her rather than Susanna if he can’t pay what he owes her. Bartolo is happy to help – he wants to get his own back on Figaro for taking the Countess away from him and helping her to marry the Count.
Cherubino is always in love with someone and at the moment has a huge crush on the Countess. The Count has caught Cherubino kissing Barbarina and is furious, as he is keen on Barbarina himself. Cherubino hides when the Count comes to try and persuade Susanna to meet him later that night. The Count hides too when Basilio comes in and gossips about Cherubino’s bad behaviour and his crush on the Countess. The furious Count shows himself and is so angry when he discovers Cherubino that he packs him off to join the army. Figaro manages to tell Cherubino not to leave right away. He has a plan. act ii the countess’s apartment
The Countess is very unhappy that the Count is always chasing after other women. Figaro and Susanna promise that they can help her win back the Count’s love.
Their plan is to disguise Cherubino as a woman and to trap the Count, who will think Cherubino is Susanna. Then the Count will have to apologise to his wife.
Just as Susanna and the Countess are giggling over Cherubino and how he looks dressed up in woman’s clothes, the Count unexpectedly comes back from hunting.
Cherubino hides again, this time in the Countess’s dressing room, but manages to escape by jumping out of the window. Susanna takes his place in the dressing room so the Count is confused when he opens the door. Figaro comes in, and then Antonio, who is angry because someone has jumped from the window onto his plants. To protect Cherubino Figaro says it was him. Then Marcellino arrives with Bartolo and Basilio demanding Figaro is punished for not paying his debts. act iii a hall in the house
The Count wonders what everyone is up to. Susanna and the Countess make a new plan – Susanna will write a letter pretending to agree to meet the Count in the garden that night, but the Countess will dress up in Susanna’s clothes and meet him instead. She will then be able to shame him for his bad behaviour. Despite everything, she still loves her husband and wants to win him back.
As he hasn’t got the money to pay her, it looks as if Figaro will be forced to marry Marcellina. When he says that he is an orphan and begins to tell the story of his childhood, the amazing truth is discovered – he is in fact Marcellina and Bartolo’s long lost son. The Count is furious but Susanna and Figaro are thrilled as they will be able to get married after all, and Bartolo and Marcellina are now their friends.
Barbarina and a group of her girlfriends come to give flowers to the Countess. One of the girls is really Cherubino in disguise. The Count spots him right away but is persuaded by Barbarina not to be angry. Despite trying everything he can to prevent it, he is obliged to give his blessing to a double wedding for Susanna and Figaro, Marcellina and Bartolo. Susanna slips him the letter she wrote with the Countess, sealed with a pin. act iV the gardens
Barbarina has lost the pin that the Count asked her to give back to Susanna, as a sign that he agrees to meet her later on. When Figaro hears about this he thinks that his new wife has betrayed him and decides to hide in the garden and catch Susanna with the Count. He asks Bartolo and Basilio to wait as witnesses too.
The Countess is dressed as Susanna and Susanna is dressed as the Countess. This fools the Count and Cherubino, and Figaro at first but then he recognizes Susanna’s voice and realizes that he has been an idiot to suspect her. As they happily kiss one another, the Count surprises them, still thinking that Susanna is the Countess. The real Countess appears and the Count is shamed in front of everyone. Luckily, the Countess forgives him and the Count promises to mend his ways. Everyone goes off to celebrate Figaro’s wedding.
synopsis by Henrietta bredin; illustrations by rosie brooks