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".
I due Figaro (Mercadante)
The manuscript of "I due Figaro" was discovered in 2009 in Madrid by an Italian musicologist. Two years later, on 24 June 2011, the first production of the opera in modern times was presented at the Ravenna Festival, conducted by Riccardo Muti. The music of this opera, enriched by several dances of Spanish sonority but hampered by a libretto at times weak, was judged "lightweight and brilliant, gracefully written, often refined in the effects of the counterpoint, in the intertwining of the internal voices, in the quality of instrumentation and rhythmic inventiveness". The opera is introduced by the "Sinfonia caratteristica spagnola", a lively ouverture based on typical Spanish dances, that obtained a good success and was also printed as a separate piece.