A Story of Love, Tricks, and a Very Busy Wedding Day
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte
Based on the play La Folle Journée, ou Le Mariage de Figaro by Pierre Beaumarchais
One day.
One wedding.
One enormous amount of trouble.
In a grand house near Seville, Figaro and Susanna are preparing for the happiest day of their lives.
They are going to be married.
Figaro is clever, confident, and always ready with a plan.
Susanna is warm, quick-thinking, and perhaps even better at making plans than Figaro.
But there is a problem.
Their employer, Count Almaviva, has become far too interested in Susanna.
And his wife, Countess Almaviva — Rosina from The Barber of Seville —, knows it.
Before the wedding day is over, there will be secret letters, disguises, hiding places, jealous arguments, mistaken identities—
and more than one person jumping out of a window.
Welcome to the very busy world of The Marriage of Figaro.
Act I — Figaro Discovers the Count’s Plan
It is the morning of Figaro and Susanna’s wedding day.
Figaro is measuring their new bedroom.
“Five… ten… twenty…”
He is trying to find the perfect place for their bed.
Meanwhile, Susanna is trying on the little hat she plans to wear for the wedding.
She wants Figaro to look at her.
They are excited, playful, and very much in love.
🎵 “Cinque… dieci… venti…” — Figaro and Susanna
Hermann Prey and Mirella Freni bring such warmth and natural chemistry to Figaro and Susanna — a charming glimpse of the young couple on their wedding morning.
It is close to the rooms of both the Count and Countess.
Very convenient, he thinks.
Susanna does not look nearly as pleased.
There is something Figaro does not know.
The Count has been flirting with her.
He has even offered her money if she will secretly meet him.
Suddenly Figaro understands why the Count gave them such a conveniently located room.
He is furious.
But Figaro is not going to challenge his powerful employer with a sword.
He has a much more dangerous weapon.
His brain.
“So the Count thinks he can trick Figaro?”
Figaro smiles.
“Then Figaro will trick the Count.”
🎵 “Se vuol ballare” — Figaro
Luca Pisaroni captures Figaro’s wit and quiet defiance perfectly — elegant on the surface, but with a warning underneath.
Figaro imagines the Count trying to make him dance to his tune. But Figaro has other ideas: if the Count wants to dance, Figaro will choose the music.
Unfortunately, the Count is not Figaro’s only problem.
Marcellina, an older woman, arrives with Bartolo, a doctor.
She has an old agreement signed by Figaro.
Years ago, Figaro borrowed money from her and promised that if he could not repay it, he would marry her.
And now Marcellina intends to collect.
“You are marrying me!”
Susanna is not impressed.
The two women exchange extremely polite greetings—
so polite that they are clearly insulting each other.
Then another person rushes into the room.
Cherubino.
Cherubino is a teenage page who is hopelessly in love with almost every woman he sees.
He loves the Countess.
He admires Susanna.
He has written songs about love.
Mostly, he is confused by his own feelings.
🎵 “Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio” — Cherubino
Isabel Leonard captures Cherubino’s restless youthful energy beautifully — breathless, impulsive and completely overwhelmed by love.
Cherubino sings that he does not understand what is happening to him. He is excited, nervous, happy, miserable—and in love with everyone.
Then the Count suddenly approaches.
Cherubino panics.
He hides behind a chair.
The Count enters and begins trying to persuade Susanna to meet him secretly.
But then someone else approaches.
Now the Count must hide too.
Soon the Count discovers Cherubino.
He is furious.
But before he can punish him properly, a group of villagers arrives to thank the Count for supporting Figaro and Susanna’s marriage.
Figaro has arranged the whole thing.
The Count is trapped.
He cannot openly object to the wedding without looking terrible.
So instead, he decides to send Cherubino away to join the army.
Figaro turns to the terrified boy.
No more perfumes.
No more flirting.
No more following pretty women around the palace.
🎵 “Non più andrai” — Figaro
Luca Pisaroni brings out Figaro’s playful wit perfectly — teasing Cherubino about trading love and flirtation for the discipline of military life.
Figaro teasingly describes Cherubino’s new military life: marching through mud, carrying weapons, and leaving his romantic adventures behind.
The wedding day has barely begun.
And already almost everyone is plotting something.
Act II — A Plan, a Disguise, and a Jump from the Window
The Countess is alone in her room.
She remembers how loving the Count once was.
Now he spends his time chasing other women.
She still loves him.
And she wishes he would love her as he did before.
🎵 “Porgi, amor” — Countess
Kiri Te Kanawa’s warm, luminous voice has been one of my favourites since childhood. Her Countess is all grace and quiet longing — a beautiful beginning to “Porgi, amor.”
The Countess quietly asks Love to return her husband’s affection—or give her the strength to endure losing it.
Susanna arrives, followed by Figaro.
Figaro has a plan.
Actually, he has several plans.
First, they will make the Count jealous by sending him a note suggesting that the Countess has a secret admirer.
Then Susanna will pretend to agree to meet the Count in the garden.
But instead of Susanna—
they will send Cherubino disguised as a woman.
Simple.
Or at least Figaro thinks so.
Figaro leaves.
Cherubino arrives, and Susanna begins dressing him in women’s clothes.
Before that, Cherubino sings a little song he has written for the Countess.
🎵 “Voi che sapete” — Cherubino
Frederica von Stade is one of the most beloved Cherubinos of her generation. With her warmth, elegance and youthful charm, “Voi che sapete” feels completely natural in her hands.
Cherubino asks the women to explain what love really is. It is one of Mozart’s most gentle and beloved melodies.
Then—
knock, knock.
The Count.
Panic.
Cherubino hides in the dressing room.
Susanna hides nearby.
The Count enters.
He is already suspicious because of Figaro’s anonymous letter.
Then he hears a noise from the dressing room.
“Who is in there?”
The Countess tries to remain calm.
“Susanna.”
The Count does not believe her.
He demands that the door be opened.
The Countess refuses.
So the Count takes her with him to find tools to break down the door.
The moment they leave, Susanna rushes out.
Cherubino has only one way to escape.
The window.
“The window?!”
Yes.
The window.
Cherubino jumps.
Susanna takes his place inside the dressing room.
The Count returns with the Countess.
The Countess finally admits that Cherubino is inside.
The Count opens the door.
And out walks…
Susanna.
The Count is completely confused.
The Countess is almost as surprised as he is.
For a moment, it seems that their plan has worked perfectly.
Then the gardener Antonio arrives.
Someone has jumped from the Countess’s window and crushed his flowers.
Figaro quickly claims:
“That was me!”
But Antonio has found some papers dropped by the mysterious jumper.
They belong to Cherubino.
Figaro invents explanation after explanation.
Just when it seems things cannot become more complicated—
Marcellina and Bartolo arrive.
Marcellina produces Figaro’s old agreement.
If Figaro cannot repay his debt…
he must marry her.
Susanna stares at him.
This is going to be a very long wedding day.
Act III — A Trial, a Surprise, and a Secret Letter
The Count is trying to understand what everyone is doing.
This is not easy.
Susanna approaches him.
She pretends that she has changed her mind.
Yes, she says.
She will meet him secretly in the garden.
The Count is delighted.
But then he overhears Susanna whispering to Figaro:
“We’ve won.”
The Count realizes he is being tricked.
And now he is furious.
🎵 “Hai già vinta la causa!… Vedrò mentr’io sospiro” — Count Almaviva
Pietro Spagnoli captures the Count’s wounded pride and growing frustration brilliantly — fiery, theatrical and wonderfully comic.
The Count rages at the idea that his servants may outsmart him. He is powerful, jealous—and very unhappy about losing control.
Then comes the legal case.
Marcellina demands that Figaro either repay his debt or marry her.
Figaro protests.
He explains that he cannot marry without his parents’ permission.
There is only one problem.
He does not know who his parents are.
He was separated from them as a baby.
He mentions a mark on his arm.
Marcellina freezes.
Bartolo freezes.
Everyone stares at Figaro.
Then the truth comes out.
Marcellina is Figaro’s mother.
And Bartolo is his father.
The woman who came to force Figaro into marriage is actually his mother.
Susanna enters carrying money to pay Figaro’s debt.
And what does she see?
Figaro embracing Marcellina.
“Figaro?!”
For one terrible moment, Susanna thinks she has discovered something shocking.
Then they explain.
Marcellina is his mother.
Bartolo is his father.
The wedding can continue.
And now there may even be two weddings:
Figaro and Susanna—
and Bartolo and Marcellina.
The Countess Remembers
While everyone else celebrates, the Countess is alone.
She thinks about the early days of her marriage — when the Count loved her and their life seemed full of happiness.
Where have those beautiful moments gone?
🎵 “Dove sono i bei momenti” — Countess Almaviva
Renée Fleming brings both dignity and vulnerability to the Countess — her warm, luminous voice makes this memory of lost love especially moving.
In one of Mozart’s most moving arias, the Countess remembers the love she has lost.
But she has not completely given up hope. Perhaps, somehow, she can still win back her husband’s heart.
Meanwhile, the Countess and Susanna begin a new plan.
This time, they will not rely on Figaro.
Susanna writes a letter to the Count.
It tells him where to meet her that evening.
The Countess dictates the words.
🎵 “Sull’aria… Che soave zeffiretto” — Susanna and the Countess
Two of my favourite voices together — Kiri Te Kanawa and Mirella Freni blend with such warmth and elegance that this little duet feels almost effortless. A magical pairing.
Susanna and the Countess write their secret letter together, arranging a meeting in the garden “under the pines.” Their voices weave together in one of Mozart’s most beautiful duets.
They seal the letter with a pin.
The Count must return the pin as a sign that he has received the message.
Everything is ready.
At last, Figaro and Susanna’s wedding ceremony begins.
During the celebration, Susanna secretly passes the letter to the Count.
He opens it.
And pricks his finger on the pin.
“Ow!”
He drops it.
Then immediately searches for it.
Susanna notices.
The plan is working.
But Figaro sees the Count with the mysterious letter too.
He does not yet know that Susanna and the Countess wrote it together.
And that small misunderstanding is about to cause a very big problem.
Act IV — A Night of Disguises
It is evening in the palace garden.
Everyone seems to be looking for someone.
The gardener’s daughter Barbarina is searching for something she has lost.
A pin.
The Count gave it to her and told her to return it to Susanna.
Figaro hears this.
A pin?
For Susanna?
Suddenly he remembers the Count’s secret letter.
He reaches the wrong conclusion.
“Susanna is really meeting the Count!”
Figaro is heartbroken.
And angry.
Very angry.
🎵 “Aprite un po’ quegli occhi” — Figaro
Bryn Terfel has long been one of my favourite baritones, and hearing him live in recital in Frankfurt made his voice even more unforgettable to me. Here, his Figaro is full of wit, character and irresistible theatrical energy.
Figaro warns men to “open their eyes,” convinced that women cannot be trusted. The joke, of course, is that Figaro has completely misunderstood the situation.
But Susanna discovers that Figaro is hiding nearby.
She realizes that he thinks she has betrayed him.
She could explain everything.
Instead…
she decides to teach him a little lesson.
Susanna and the Countess exchange clothes.
Now Susanna looks like the Countess.
And the Countess looks like Susanna.
Knowing that Figaro is listening, Susanna begins to sing as if she were waiting for her lover.
🎵 Famous music: “Deh vieni, non tardar” — Susanna’s aria
This aria has stayed with me since my very first days as a music student — I sang it, studied it and returned to it again and again for years. And it was through this very video that I first discovered Mirella Freni’s voice. It has remained special to me ever since.
“Come, don’t be late, my beloved…”
At first, Susanna is teasing Figaro. But as she sings, the playful trick seems to turn into something more tender and sincere. For a moment, all the disguises and misunderstandings disappear — and we simply hear Susanna singing about love.
Figaro, of course, hears every word.
And his jealousy only grows.
In the darkness, almost nobody knows who anybody is.
Cherubino arrives and sees the disguised Countess.
He thinks she is Susanna.
The Count arrives and thinks exactly the same thing.
Figaro watches from hiding.
Chaos begins.
The Count tries to romance the woman he believes is Susanna.
But he is actually flirting with his own wife.
Meanwhile, Figaro meets the real Susanna, who is dressed as the Countess.
At first, he pretends not to recognize her.
Susanna becomes furious when Figaro begins flirting with the “Countess.”
She slaps him.
Figaro laughs.
“Susanna! I knew it was you.”
Now Susanna realizes he has been teasing her.
They make peace.
But there is still one person who needs to learn a lesson.
The Count.
Figaro loudly pretends to declare his love for the “Countess.”
The Count hears him.
He rushes forward.
“My wife! With Figaro!”
He calls everyone into the garden.
People emerge from every hiding place.
The Count proudly believes that he has finally caught everyone.
Then the real Countess steps forward.
She is wearing Susanna’s clothes.
The Count looks at Susanna.
Then at his wife.
Then back at Susanna.
And finally…
he understands.
He has been tricked.
By Figaro.
By Susanna.
And most of all, by the wife he himself was trying to deceive.
For the first time all day, the Count has nothing clever to say.
He turns to the Countess.
🎵 “Contessa, perdono” — Count and Countess
“Contessa, perdono.” After all the schemes, disguises and misunderstandings, everything comes down to this simple plea for forgiveness. Fischer-Dieskau and Kiri Te Kanawa make Mozart’s final moment feel both deeply human and quietly moving.
“Countess… forgive me.”
Everyone waits.
The Countess could embarrass him.
She could punish him.
Instead, she answers quietly:
“I am kinder than you.
I forgive you.”
And suddenly, after an entire day of tricks, jealousy, lies, disguises, and misunderstandings—
everything becomes still.
The Countess forgives her husband.
Figaro and Susanna are finally free to celebrate their marriage.
Music fills the garden.
The whole household joins the celebration.
And the longest wedding day imaginable finally comes to an end.
Beyond the Story
The Figaro Trilogy
The Marriage of Figaro is actually the second part of a trilogy of plays by the French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais.
The story begins with The Barber of Seville. Here, Figaro helps the young Count Almaviva win the love of Rosine — the woman who will later become the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro. Rossini turned this first story into his famous opera Il barbiere di Siviglia.
Years later, we meet the same characters again in The Marriage of Figaro. Almaviva and Rosine are now married, Figaro is preparing to marry Susanna, and the charming young Count has become a husband whose wandering eye creates plenty of trouble. Mozart’s opera is based on this second play.
But the story does not end there.
In the third play, La Mère coupable (The Guilty Mother), many years have passed. The characters are older, their relationships have changed, and secrets from the past return to trouble the Almaviva family. The play has also inspired later operatic adaptations, although none became part of the standard repertoire in the way Rossini’s Barber of Seville and Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro did.
So when you watch The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro, you are really meeting the same family and the same Figaro at two different moments in their lives.