Pierre Beaumarchais
In 1786, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed an opera, "Le Nozze di Figaro", based on "The Marriage of Figaro", with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte based on the play. Several composers including Paisiello in 1782 wrote operas based on "The Barber of Seville". Rossini's 1816 version is his most successful work and still often performed. In 1966, Darius Milhaud composed an opera, "La mère coupable", based on "The Guilty Mother".
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.