Was the marriage of Figaro motzarts favourite opera

The collaboration between Lorenzo Da Ponte and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart represents a pivotal shift in *opera buffa* (comic opera). While the foundational fact of Da Ponte’s authorship is established, the technical complexity of his adaptation of Pierre Beaumarchais’ subversive play, *Le Mariage de Figaro*, warrants deeper investigation into its structural and linguistic innovations. ## Strategic Navigation of Imperial Censorship The primary challenge facing Da Ponte was the 1785 ban on Beaumarchais’ original play by Emperor Joseph II, who found its overt class warfare and anti-aristocratic rhetoric dangerous. Da Ponte’s "deep dive" into the source material involved a strategic removal of explicitly political monologues—most notably Figaro’s five-page polemic against the nobility in Act V. Instead of a direct political assault, Da Ponte pivoted the narrative toward **psychological realism** and the "politics of the heart." By softening the rhetoric, he made the subversion more palatable to the Viennese court while retaining the core tension: the moral superiority of the servants over their masters. This transition from external political protest to internal emotional complexity is what allowed the opera to pass censorship while remaining fundamentally radical. ## Formal Innovation: The Chain Finale One of Da Ponte’s most significant technical contributions is the refinement of the **ensemble finale**, particularly the nearly twenty-minute finale of Act II. Unlike traditional *opera seria*, which utilized static arias to express single emotions, Da Ponte’s libretto for *Le Nozze di Figaro* pioneered the "chain finale." 1. **Continuous Dramatic Motion**: The libretto provides a constant stream of new plot developments (the gardener’s entrance, the arrival of the creditors) that necessitate immediate musical shifts. 2. **Structural Expansion**: The finale begins as a duet and incrementally builds into a septet. Da Ponte meticulously managed the entry of characters to ensure that the dramatic stakes and the musical density increased in tandem. 3. **Metrical Variety**: Da Ponte utilized a sophisticated range of Italian poetic meters—such as *settenario* (seven-syllable lines) and *ottonario* (eight-syllable lines)—to dictate the rhythmic pulse to Mozart, effectively "composing" the tempo through the verse structure before a single note was written. ## Linguistic Duality and Class Distinction Da Ponte utilized linguistic registers to distinguish social hierarchies, a technique that added a layer of realism often absent in contemporary libretti. - **The Count and Countess**: Their language often leans toward the *seria* style, characterized by formal syntax and elevated vocabulary reminiscent of tragic opera. - **Figaro and Susanna**: Their dialogue is marked by **stichomythia**—short, rapid-fire lines of dialogue that reflect their wit and social agility. - **Subversion of the *Servus Callidus***: While Figaro descends from the "clever slave" archetype of Roman comedy, Da Ponte imbues him with a genuine sense of wounded dignity. In the aria *Tutto è disposto*, Figaro’s disillusionment with women is framed not just as a comic trope, but as a bitter reflection on the reliability of social and personal contracts. ## Psychological Depth and the "Aria di Sortita" Da Ponte’s libretto challenged the traditional **aria di sortita** (entrance aria) by using it to establish character motivation rather than just vocal prowess. For instance, Cherubino’s *Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio* uses frantic, fragmented verse to mirror the physiological symptoms of adolescent infatuation. This alignment of poetic form with erratic psychological states marked a departure from the more rigid, conventional characterizations found in earlier 18th-century libretti.