Casting
| Position | Name | Role |
| Chant / Singer | EMILY MAGEE | |
| Chant / Singer | Roman TREKEL | |
| Compositeur / Composer | Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART | |
| Costumes | Yoshio YABARA | |
| Décorateur / Sets | Herbert KAPPLMULLER | |
| Direction musicale / Conductor | Daniel BARENBOIM | |
| Livret / libretto | Lorenzo DA PONTE | |
| Mise en scène / Stage Director | Thomas LANGHOFF | |
| Orchestre / Orchestra | STAATSKAPPELLE BERLIN |
Co Producers and Broadcasters (TV, cinema, Video)
DEUTSCHE STAATSOPER BERLIN
This opera was the first of three collaborations between Mozart and Da Ponte; their later collaborations were Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte. It was Mozart who originally selected Beaumarchais’ play and brought it to Da Ponte, who turned it into a libretto in six weeks, rewriting it in poetic Italian and removing all of the original’s political references. In particular, Da Ponte replaced Figaro’s climactic speech against inherited nobility with an equally angry aria against unfaithful wives. Contrary to the popular myth, the libretto was approved by the Emperor, Joseph II, before any music was written by Mozart
The Imperial Italian opera company paid Mozart 450 florins for the work; this was three times his (low) salary for a year, when he had worked as a court musician in Salzburg (Solomon 1995). Da Ponte was paid 200 florins.
Emperor Joseph II was indirectly responsible for preserving this magnificent opera score for posterity. Joseph II was looking for an opera to be produced at the imperial court. Mozart’s work was one of the works under consideration, along with several others by contemporary composers. With the scant success Mozart had received to that point, he reportedly swore that if his work was passed over, he would toss the entire score into the fire.
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