The Marriage of Figaro

The Marriage of Figaro (Italian: Le nozze di Figaro) is an opera buffa (comic opera) composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Beaumarchais, Le mariage de Figaro (1784).

Characters

Mozart's Italian buffa operas are known for their muddled character drama, as opposed to the simple tragic love triangles of Bel Canto and later operas. Due to its large cast of principals this is especially true of the Marriage of Figaro.

Related Topics:
Buffa operas - Love triangle - Bel Canto

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• The Count Almaviva (baritone, no longer in love with Rosina, chasing after Susanna)
• The Countess Almaviva (Soprano, Rosina, his distraught wife)
• Figaro (baritone, former Barber of Seville, now the Count's valet)
• Susanna (soprano, his future wife, in service under the Countess)
• Cherubino (mezzo soprano, the Countess's young page, in love with every woman in the castle, especially the Countess)
• Marcellina (mezzo soprano, a old spinster, with a contract to marry Figaro)
• Bartolo (bass, vengeful toward Figaro for foiling his former plans to marry Rosina, his ward)
• Basilio (tenor, master of music and intrigue)
• Don Curzio (tenor, a judge)
• Antonio (bass, the gardener)
• Barbarina (soprano, Antonio's daughter)