Considered to be Mozart's most popular opera, The Marriage of Figaro, or The Day of Madness, is based on Pierre Beaumarche's 1784 comic play of the same name. Mozart's collaborator, Lorenzo da Ponte, penned the libretto of this sequel to The Barber of Seville. The opera takes place in a Spanish court the day of the wedding of Figaro, head of servant-staff, upon his discovery that the Count is trying to make advances on his bride-to-be. As he attempts to thwart the Count, the Count in turn tries to snare Figaro into a marriage to a much older woman, who turns out to be Figaro's mother. The exploits and foils at the palace are illuminated through Mozart's brilliant score, making this oeuvre endure for centuries, an indispensable piece in the operatic canon.
