LE NOZZE DI FIGARO
Suggested Reading/Listening

Maestro’s pick CD

EMI Classics: Le nozze di Figaro with Giuseppe Taddei and Anna Moffo, conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini

Websites

Search for “Le nozze di Figaro” on YouTube

Browse through some of the most famous scenes from the opera, including clips from both concerts and full productions. Singers include Renée Fleming, Bryn Terfel, and Cecilia Bartoli.

Full score of Le nozze di Figaro online

Find the full score of Le nozze di Figaro (in Italian, with German translation) at Indiana University’s experimental online library. A remarkable free resource—scrollable and printable.


Articles

New York Times Article on Mozart’s Death: Conspiracy theories are laid to rest with this article, which provides evidence that illness—not murder—was the cause of Mozart’s death.


New Yorker Article on Da Ponte: Compelling and memorable article about the librettist’s life. Did you know that Da Ponte had almost no schooling before age fourteen, was ordained as a priest at age twenty-four, ran away to Venice for a life of “cards and love,” and later moved to New York to become the first professor of Italian at Columbia University? His life sounds like an opera in its own right.

Books

The Figaro Plays by Beaumarchais

Read the original trilogy that caused a stir in eighteenth-century France with its subversive politics, brilliantly translated by British satirist John Wells.

  1. The Barber of Seville, set operatically by both Paisiello and Rossini
  2. The Marriage of Figaro, taken by Mozart for his famous opera
  3. The Guilty Mother (see Figaro Facts)


Mozart’s Letters

Mozart’s revealing letters lend insight into his personality and his relationships with family, friends and employers. Add an entertaining dimension to your experience of Mozart’s work!

DVDS

Two excellent productions of Le nozze di Figaro, both with Alison Hagley as a charming Susanna.

1993 production conducted by John Eliot Gardiner, also with Rodney Gilfry and Bryn Terfel.


1994 production directed by Stephen Medcalf for the Glyndebourne Arts Festival, with the fabulous Renée Fleming in the role of the Countess.