Honolulu Weekly

Le Nozze di Figaro / Hawaii Opera Theatre opens its golden anniversary year with Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro). This comic opera remains one of the most performed in the U.S. according to Opera America–recently among the Top 5. The reasons? Twofold: a lively and entertaining libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte and an absolutely miraculous score by Wolfgang Mozart.

(Of course, French composer Claude Debussy might have had Mozart in mind when he cattily remarked, “In opera, there is always too much singing.”)

Da Ponte took the original French play by Beaumarchais, translated the story into Italian, and removed its anti-aristocracy content to satisfy the court censors.

The plot is difficult to summarize–it’s an opera, after all–but in brief, the lustful Count Almaviva has intentions for Susanna, the intended of his chief servant, Figaro. With the help of the Countess, the two lovers undertake to revive the Count’s feelings for his wife. Along the way, the plot twists, misunderstandings abound and everybody sings … and sings.