Not even the success of 'Die Entfuehrung' could permanently establish
German opera in Vienna. The musical sympathies of the aristocracy were
entirely Italian, and Mozart had to bow to expediency. His next work,
'Le Nozze de Figaro' (1786), was written to an adaptation of
Beaumarchais's famous comedy 'Le Mariage de Figaro,' which had been
produced in Paris a few years before. Da Ponte, the librettist, wisely
omitted all the political references, which contributed so much to the
popularity of the original play, and left only a bustling comedy of
intrigue, not perhaps very moral in tendency, but full of amusing
incident and unflagging in spirit. It speaks volumes for the ingenuity
of the librettist that though the imbroglio is often exceedingly
complicated, no one feels the least difficulty in following every detail
of it on the stage, though it is by no means easy to give a clear and
comprehensive account of all the ramifications of the plot.
The scene is laid at the country-house of Count Almaviva. Figaro, the
Count's valet, and Susanna, the Countess's maid, are to be married that
day; but Figaro, who is well aware that the Count has a penchant for his
_fiancee_, is on his guard against machinations in that quarter. Enter
the page Cherubino, an ardent youth who is devotedly attached to his
mistress. He has been caught by the Count flirting with Barberina, the
gardener's daughter, and promptly dismissed from his service, and now
he comes to Susanna to entreat her to intercede for him with the
Countess.
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