"Le nozze di Figaro" at the Gran Teatre del Liceu

Lorenzo Da Ponte, Mozart's librettist for his famous Trilogy (Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte), had a life fit for a novel: traveller, director of the New Italian Theatre at the Viennese court, Italian teacher in London and a friend of Casanova (whom he kept very present in the characterization of Don Giovanni), he ended up as a professor at Columbia University in New York, where he died.

On the other hand, Beaumarchais, with his extraordinary personality, shares with Da Ponte a life full of adventures: he was a watchmaker, inventor, playwright, piano teacher to the daughters of Louis XV, spy, diplomat, editor, horticulturist, and revolutionary. Beaumarchais took a long time to publish Figaro or La folle journée, censored and obstructed by the king himself due to its harsh social criticism targeting the arrogance of the ruling class: the aristocracy just before the French Revolution. The work shows the social antagonism between classes, master and servant, and defends the moral superiority of the base of society, encouraging revolt.

Le nozze di Figaro appears as an extraordinary monument, without comparison. A brilliant score, full of unexpected twists that follows the principle of the classical theatre unities: unity of place (the Count's castle near Seville), of time (18th century), and of action.

The audience is invited to dive into the tumultuous lives of this gallery of characters: the contemplative loneliness of the Countess, an emancipated/cunning Susanna faced with male misogyny, a Figaro obedient to the sadistic and abusive Count, and a lovestruck and innocent Cherubino. A collection of characters in which, residing in the myth, shared female suffering emerges as a source of a violent masculine form. The only refuge for the women is their ability to be supportive of each other. From the moment they separate, they become vulnerable.

All this microcosm can be reduced to a binary confrontation between the individualistic and aggressive male worlds and a sensitive and generous female one. All facets and variants of love are embodied here: from the contemplative idealism of Cherubino to husband-wife, lover-courtesan, parent-child relationships: a world of explorations and a perfectly defined and musically outlined manual by Mozart for each character.

From fragility to violence, passing through generosity, joy, the triumph of love... in the end, it becomes an eternal mirror for humanity. This new perspective presented by stage director Marta Pazos will reveal new meanings and confront audiences with the notion of seduction, while raising questions such as: what does it mean to be a man or a woman in today's society? What limits do we place on our desire? What does it mean to be a couple today? What consequences do our impulses or abuse have?

Mozart, who with Le nozze achieves the culmination of classical perfection and beauty, reaches humanity with a score of enormous relevance and modernity that suggests reflections far beyond the plot itself. Thus, Le nozze continues to speak to our society and to our time, challenging the institution of marriage and, in light of the #metoo movement, the abuse of power and sexual intimidation speak of a male toxicity that must be eradicated.

The different manifestations of love and reconciliation are the foundation of this work, and in the context of prevailing Catholicism and the Enlightenment of the era, Mozart proposes a final recipe: forgiveness, an intelligent and necessary reparation.

Opera buffa in four acts.

Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte based on the play La Folle Journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro by Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais.

• World premiere: 01/05/1786 at the Burgtheater in Vienna
• Barcelona premiere: 02/02/1916 at the Gran Teatre del Liceu
• Last performance at the Liceu: 23/04/2022
• Total performances at the Liceu: 106