The marriage of Figaro : a comparative study of the theatre play by Beaumarchais and the opera by Mozart and Da Ponte

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-114).The controversy surrounding Beaumarchais's Le Mariage de Figaro (and King Lous XVI's initial banning of the play) is highlighted. Its strong social criticism of the inequality of social classes and the nobility's privileges by right of birth echoed the sentiments of the rising bourgeois class and made it a forerunner to the French Revolution in 1789. Mozart, who was looking for a good libretto to extablish him as an Italian opera composer, suggested the controversial play to Da Ponte as a possible libretto. This would be the first of three extroadinary operas produced by this fruitful partnership. For the libretto to be acceptable to the Austrian emperor, Da Ponte had to make changes to the original play. These alterations, as well as the adjustments needed to make it suitable as an opera text (for example the inclusion of new text for arias) are pointed out