The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro (, ), K. 492, is an opera buffa (comic opera) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786. The opera's libretto is based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, "La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro" ("The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro"), which was first performed in 1784. It tells how the servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna and teaching him a lesson in fidelity.
Thomas Allen (baritone)
Allen's first book, "Foreign Parts – A Singer's Journal" was published in 1993. In November 2002, he directed for the first time in Britten's "Albert Herring" at the Royal College of Music. Other directorial credits include Mozart's "Così fan tutte" and "Don Giovanni" (for Samling, of which he is the patron) at the Sage Music Centre in Gateshead. In 2006, he made his American directorial debut with a production of Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" for Arizona Opera. In 2007, he directed a new production of "The Barber of Seville" for Scottish Opera. He has directed a new production of "The Marriage of Figaro" for the company which premiered in Glasgow in October 2010. He also performed as the Narrator/Dr. Pangloss in the 2005 concert of Leonard Bernstein's "Candide" at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York City.