Constructing Le Nozze Di Figaro: Sequins) - Da Ponte Damages His Credibility by Claiming in The

78 DANIEL HEARTZ
a due, a tre, a sei, a

terzetti, de' sestetti,
still, by deleting th
Constructing Le nozze di Figaro asterisk on 'dramatic
have described the f
DANIEL HEARTZ the perusal of which,
my Italian reader; it
amusing letter in v
LORENZO Da Ponte is our main witness as to how he and Mozart put taken into the mem
together their three operas.' His memoirs, first published in 1823, because it came too
mystify the topic more than they illuminate it. Some additional light is Goldoni describing
shed by an earlier publication entitled An Extract from the Life of Lorenzo writing, delivered in t
Da Ponte, with the history of several dramas written by him, and among others, II
II Dramma per musica
Figaro, II Don Giovanni e La Scuola degli Amanti set to music by Mozart.2
stato suggettato dall'
Whoever translated this from Da Ponte's original Italian worked from Aristotole, di Orazio e
a text different in many details from what was published four years necessarie per servire
later as the Memorie. The well-known passage about how the poet must
rack his brains in order to invent situations for the buffo finales will be Da Ponte was willing
familiar to most readers from its version in the memoirs.3 This is how pretty' comic librett
it reads in the 1819 Extract: Le bourru bienfaisan
Goldoni entitled Il Burburo di buon core.' But he removed these
This Finale in Italian comic operas, though strictly connected with the references to his illustrious Venetian predecessor in the memoirs. It is
other parts of the drama, is a kind of little comedy by itself: it requires a possible that the unfavourable comparisons of Da Ponte's memoirs
distinct plot, and should be particularly interesting: in this part are chiefly
with the more stylish memoirs of Goldoni were at work already in the
displayed the genius of a musical composer, and the power of the singers;
and for this is reserved the most striking effect of the drama. early 1820s,5 souring Da Ponte to the point of being unwilling to give
Recitativo is entirely excluded from this division of the piece. The whole Goldoni any credit here. He was unhappy as well about sharing any of
of it is sung, and it must contain every species of melody. The adagio, the his renown with singers; the 'first buffo', named ahead even of the
allegro, the andante, the cantabile, the armonioso, the strepitoso, the prima donna, can mean in this Viennese context none other than
arcistrepitoso, the strepitosissimo, with which last every act commonly Benucci.
ends. It is a theatrical rule, that in the course of the Finale, all the singers, Francesco Benucci was the greatest basso buffo of his generation.
however numerous they may be, must make their appearance in solos, He was the mainstay of the Italian troupe in the Burgtheater from
duets, trios, quartetos etc. etc. And this rule the poet is under the absolute their arrival in 1783 throughout the decade that followed. Besides the
necessity of observing, whatever difficulties and absurdities it may occa- role of Figaro he created the first Viennese Leporello (1788) and the
sion; and though all the critics, with Aristotle at their head exclaim against
first Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte (1790). He was a particular favourite of
it, I must observe here that the real Aristotles of a dramatic poet* are in
Emperor Joseph II, as well as of the Viennese public, for both his
general, not only the composer of the music, but also the first buffo, the
prima donna and not very seldom the 2d 3d and 4th buffoon of the acting and his singing. If a single resource had to be named as the
company.
strength which emboldened Mozart to conceive of an opera on the
forbidden Figaro play we may suggest that it was Benucci. Yet his
Da Ponte changed this passage by adding more about the 'chiusa' or name is never mentioned in Da Ponte's memoirs. It occurs very often,
'stretta' that closes the finale, by exaggerating the procession of on the other hand, in the correspondence between the emperor and
singers that had to appear - 'tutti i cantanti, se fosser trecento, a uno, his theatre director, Count Rosenberg. Just a few months after the
premiere of Figaro on 1 May 1786, when it was a question of rehiring
' For an introduction to this article see Daniel Heartz, 'Setting the Stage for Figaro', The Nancy Storace, the first Susanna, Joseph wrote to Rosenberg: 'Quant
Musical Times, 127 (1986), 256-60.
2 (New York, 1819). I am indebted to John Stone of London for calling my attention to this
a la Storace, si on ne peult la conserver, ce que je desirerois, il faudra
early form of a part of the memoirs, which remains unknown to the specialist literature on au moins l'engager bien surement pour I'anie 1788... mais jamais au
Mozart. His annotated edition of the Extract is eagerly awaited.
' Da Ponte's memoirs have undergone many modern editions and translations. To be Tutte le opere di Carlo Goldoni a cura di Giuseppe Ortolani (Milan, 1935-56), i, 688; in the
preferred is the annotated critical edition of the Memorie by G. Gabarin and F. Nicolini (Bari, Mimoires (Paris, 1789), Goldoni adds to his list: 'II faut consulter le peintre-dicorateur' (i, 258).
1918) in the series Scrittori d'Italia. 5 Sheila Hodges, Lorenzo Da Ponte: The Life and Times of Mozart's Librettist (London, 1985), 201.
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CONSTRUCTING LE NOZZE DI FIGARO 79 80 DANIEL HEARTZ
detriment de Benucci, puisque cet homme vaut plus que deux chief direction of the
Storaces.'6 Da Ponte's name does not occur in this particular corre- opportunity to offer
spondence, from which it might be inferred that he too stood on a majesty that Mozart h
lower rung than Benucci, as viewed by the powers that ran the Taken literally, Da P
Burgtheater. mean that work beg
Mozart suggested the Figaro play to Da Ponte according to both the months in questio
Extract and the memoirs. In both Baron Raimund Wetzlar, one of
unlikely to have com
Mozart's friends, is given credit for having generously offered to pay no earlier than the d
the poet for writing the libretto (the Extract specifies the sum of 50 who was in ignoranc
sequins). Da Ponte damages his credibility by claiming in the absence from the ci
memoirs that Don Giovanni was his idea, which claim can be rejected as was in Vienna thro
implausible.7 A passage in the Extract demolishes what Da Ponte says 1786.9 In October
in the memoirs; Guardasoni, the impresario, asked Mozart to set production in the Bu
Bertati's Don Giovanni. This inconvenient piece of information in the daughter, Leopold M
Extract obviously had to be deleted in the memoirs after Da Ponte dated 2 November d
decided to cover up his indebtedness to Bertati's libretto. Le nozze di Figaro. W
Joseph II framed his objections to the Figaro play in a letter to and the trials over Ido
Count Pergen of 31 January 1785, taking care to point out that the his memory, Leopo
censor, if he did not ban it outright, would have to see that such consuming negotiati
changes were made so that he could take responsibility for its the composer exactly
performance and the impression it made on the public:
Gott gebe, dass es in d
Ich vernehme, dass die bekannte Komedie le Mariage de Figaro in einer wird ihm eben vieles
deutschen Ubersetzung ffir das Kiirntnerthortheater angetragen seyn eingerichtet bekomm
solle; da nun dieses Stuck viel Anst6ssiges enthiialt; so verstehe Ich mich, er wird immer daran
dass der Censor solches entweder ganz verwerfen, oder doch solche seiner schinen Gewoh
Verainderungen darinn veranlassen werde, dass er flir die Vorstellung weil er vom Gr: Rosen
dieser Piece und den Eindruck, den sie machen diirfte, haften werde
kinnten.8 Da Ponte painted Co
the opera, not as th
Da Ponte echoes the banning in his memoirs, but not the emperor's
emperor, who dro
suggestion of redeeming the play through revisions: 'Vietato aveva accumulate to a poin
pochi di prima l'Imperadore alla compagnia del teatro tedesco di Da Ponte's main claim
rappresentare quella comedia, che scritta era, diceva egli, troppo a personal intervie
liberamente per un costumato uditorio.' In the Extract he writes:
memoirs at this point
There was an obstacle which first appeared insurmountable - the emperor
You know very well,
had a few days before forbidden its performance in Vienna. I resolved
in instrumental music
nevertheless, to write the drama secretly, and wait for a good opportunity
not good for much. A
to have it performed in Vienna, or in some other city. In the course of two
replied I, I should nev
months the opera was completed in all its parts; and as fortune would have
it, the person we feared [Salieri], a great rival of Mozart, and who had the Da Ponte, newly arr
only of Die Entfihr
6 Rudolf Payer von Thurn, Joseph II. als Theaterdirektor: Ungedruckte Briefe und Aktenstiicke aus den
possible to believe
Kinderjahren des Burgtheaters (Vienna and Leipzig, 1920), 70, letter of 29 September 1786 to words are put in his
Rosenberg.
7 See Daniel Heartz, 'Three Schools for Lovers: The Mozart-Da Ponte Trilogy', About the But that Marriage of F
House.. The Magazine of the Friends of Covent Garden (Spring 1981), 18: 'Da Ponte claimed in his
memoirs, written four decades after the fact, that he was the one who selected the Don Juan 9 Ignaz von Mosel, Ueber das
legend, but this does not jibe with other facts, or with Mozart's clear precedence over his 1827), 93.
partner, even in literary matters.' 'o Mozarts Briefe und Aufzeichnungen, ed. W. A. Bauer and 0. E. Deutsch (Kassel, 1963), iii,
8 Von Thurn, Joseph II. als Theaterdirektor, 60. 443-4.
freue.'"
in the national theatre: you ought to have known that. Sir, answered I, as I The pressure
had to write an opera, and not a comedy, I have been able to score
omit certain in November po
scenes, and shorten others, and I have carefully expunged whatever might
Christmas, during the
offend the decency of a theatre over which your majesty presides. If that is
until after Easter in th
the case, replied he, I rely on your opinion for the goodness the
of the music,
absence of Luisa La
and on your prudence for the choice of the characters:had you may been given leave
immediately give the parts to the copyist.
Soler's successful settin
The translator has done poorly here in rendering 'della Storace,
vostra Benucci and t
January
prudenza quanto al costume' (meaning theatrical propriety, as in Da and Februar
Ponte's phrase quoted above, 'per un costumato uditorio'). had to learn Salieri's
If we believe Da Ponte, the emperor capitulated with theentertainment
speed of an in the
opera buffa clown. This demands a credulity of the reader1786,
that few can to which Mozart
play
possess. By suggesting that the play be revised to make it more Der Schauspieldir
respectable, Joseph had, from the beginning, shown moreduring
interest in it Lent of Idome
than Da Ponte let on. And although the planned production Auersperg,
in the for which
and
Kiarntnerthor theatre was abandoned, Joseph allowed the German write two new p
translation of the play to be printed as it stood, uncut, came
somethingto fulfilment with
Burgtheater
unthinkable even a few years earlier, when Maria Theresa was alive. late in Ma
What Da Ponte, many years later, claimed credit for Cobenzl,
initiating - his ambassado
revising, cutting and cleaning up the play - is similar to earlier,
what Joseph at which tim
told Pergen would have to be done with it in JanuaryPaisiello's
of 1785. We operas as t
suggest that, contrary to Da Ponte's tale, the emperor was serious,
in on the he specified; t
'secret' from the beginning. entry in Zinzendorfs
At this point in his tale Da Ponte brings in Mozart. In the padrona,
Extract musique
thenouvelle de Paisiello au lieu de l'ancienne de
Pergolese.
composer is made to seem an eavesdropper waiting in the shadowsBenucci et Storace jouerent.'"3 Not until 1 May 1786 was Le
for
his cue: nozze di Figaro ready to be exposed to the public, after several weeks of
rehearsals. The emperor attended the dress rehearsal on 29 April,
I instantly brought Mozart into the imperial presence, to perform some according to Zinzendorf and Da Ponte's memoirs.
pieces of his music; and the emperor was most agreeably surprised. I need
not add, that this proceeding was by no means gratifying to the other Salieri provides a detailed description of how a composer approached
composers, nor to the manager, Count Rosemberg [sic], who hated both
Mozart and myself. We had to make head against a host of intriguers, both
setting a comic opera to music in those days (see Appendix). His
before and after the representation of the piece.
teacher Gassmann, imperial court composer, was called to Italy to
write an opera seria (Metastasio's Ezio) for the Roman Carnival of 1770.
This account must have struck Da Ponte as somewhat brisk, or lacking In his absence, young Salieri (born 1750) was asked by Giovan
in plausibility, because he padded it with several further details Gastone Boccherini, brother of the composer and a dancer in imperial
between 1819 and 1823. In the memoirs he runs to Mozart to give him service, to set a libretto he had written with the help of Calzabigi. Le
the good news, only to find an imperial courier already at hand with a donne letterate (adapted from Moliere's Lesfemmes savantes), given in the
note bidding the composer to bring his score to the palace instantly. Burgtheater in January 1770, was the result. Salieri says they first
Mozart obeys the royal command and plays diverse pieces 'which decided on the distribution of the roles, according to the abilities of
pleased the Emperor marvellously and, without any exaggeration, the singers then in the company (and subject to the approval of the
astounded him'. There follows a digression on the emperor's exquisite
musical taste - all this material is added to the version found in the " Irmgard Leux-Henschen, Joseph Martin Kraus in seinen Briefen (Stockholm, 1978), 310. The
Extract. letter is written to the composer's sister Marianna in Frankfurt-on-Main.
'2 Roger Fiske in his article on Nancy Storace in the The New Grove Dictionary of Music (London,
The new opera was talked about openly by late 1785, and not only 1980), xviii, 182, says that the part of the Countess was intended originally for Storace, on the
in Vienna. In far-distant Paris the German composer Joseph Martin basis of what evidence we know not. Since Storace was more experienced than Laschi, and more
highly paid, it seems reasonable to believe that she had her pick of either role.
Kraus knew what was going on; in a letter to his sister dated 26 '3 Joseph II. und Graf Ludwig Cobenzl: Ihr Briefwechsel, ed. A. Beer and J. von Fiedler (Vienna,
December 1785 he wrote about Mozart: 'Er arbeitet nun an seinem 1901), i, 370, cited in H. C. Robbins Landon, Haydn: Chronicle and Works (Bloomington and
Figaro, eine Operette in 4 Aufziigen, worauf ich mich herzlich London, 1976-80), ii, 413, note.
ensure
theatre director, it goes without saying). He read the applause,
libretto through, as he
then read it again, and read the lyric verses a thirdadded finale,
time. Only then concoct
did he begin to think of the music: 'Following the narrowed
practice of my down to C o
teacher I decided first on the key appropriate to the character of each He
reasons. chose E
lyric number.' Upon further reading of the text heafterthought,
began to think of also to be
3
some passages in terms of melody for the first time. When in a blaze
he returned of trumpet
to his task after lunch he was seized with a desire contrast to
with Acts 2 and 4. With the
compose distribution of his three universal
the
music for the Introduzione. He sought to imaginekeys the the character
scaffolding of theand edifice was in place. Every subsequent
situation of the actors as if they were alive before his
choice of key hadeyes, and
to be calculated on textual affect (and traditional
suddenly he found an orchestral motion which seemed musical affecttotoo)carry
from the andone side, and relationship to the three
bind together the sung texts of different sections: act-ending 'I
keystransported
from the other.
myself to the parterre of the theatre and imaginedEighteenth-century
hearing my sensibilities
ideas allowed that a key could take on a
performed: they seemed characteristic; I wrote them quite down,
specific personality,
triedor,them depending on how it was used, it could
over, and as I was satisfied, I continued further.' remain
In half neutral.anThis,hour
at least, isaone way we might read Schubart's
sketch for the Introduzione stood on the music desk. Thestatement
enigmatic sameonevening,the subject: 'Jeder Ton ist entweder gef'rbt,
working until midnight, he attacked the first finale,oder nicht reading
geflirbt.'"4 Take it over
the case of Mozart's uses of the key of E? in
twice before making a tonal and rhythmic plan of the
Figaro. It waswhole,
broad enough 'which
to embrace the strepitosissimo racket that
took three hours, without a single note being written down'.
ends the finale of Act 2;In four
but when used to project a tender mood and
coloured by delicate shadings from the clarinets and other winds, it
weeks' time the score was more than two-thirds complete.
Several useful points emerge from Salieri's candid assumed observations.
the 'plaintive softness' claimed for it by the historian
The finales required special attention from composersHawkins (1776),no less
and also than
the 'noble and pathetic' character attributed
from librettists (and the same applies to the finale toprocedure
it by the composermoved to By a stroke of genius (surely
Gretry (1797).'5
the beginning of the act, i.e. the Introduzione). NotMozart's
onlyidea), this
the potently
finale'sloaded weapon of affect-laden EO as
sequence of keys, but also their sequence of time-changes
amorous plaint was planted required
at the beginning of Act 2 in a solo scene
advance planning. Salieri's many successes as a for
theatre
the Countess,composer
making her first appearance (whereas she had
surely had a lot to do with visualizing how his music appearedwouldin Act 1 ofwork in
the play, momentarily). 'Porgi, amor, qualche
projecting the dramatic action across the footlights. His in
ristoro' capitalized notion
text and music of on a long tradition adherent to
orchestral textures and rhythms tying together separate the aria d'affetto. sung pas-
sages, one of his earliest musical thoughts, represents More was at stake a for
valuable
Mozart and Da Ponte than just a tradition of
testimony to the beginnings of this indispensablelove finale
songs in EO. technique.
They were putting themselves in competition with a
His first musical thoughts of all, it should be emphasized, solo scene for young
were Rosina,
how beforeto she married Count Almaviva, in
stretch the available tonalities over the whole framework so as to the opera by which, more than any other, Figaro would be measured: II
match key and textual affect (while achieving both unity and variety, barbiere di Siviglia by Petrosellini and Paisiello. Exactly halfway through
he might have added). In this vital respect he merely copied the Il barbiere, at the end of Act 1, part ii, Rosina, alone on stage for the
practice of his teacher Gassmann, he says. only time in the opera, pours out her secret emotions; amorously
Mozart fell heir to the Viennese opera buffa tradition of Gassmann attracted to Lindoro (the Count in disguise), she sends her sighs up to
and Salieri. There is no reason to believe he operated very differently Heaven, asking it, in its justice and in knowledge of her honest heart,
when approaching a libretto (except that he seems to have taken more to grant her soul the peace that it does not have. The poet says this
pains than any other composer with the shape of the libretto in the very economically in a cavatina of four short, mellifluous lines:
first place). In 1785, as in 1770, a great French comedy provided the Giusto ciel, che conoscete
initial impetus. By this time the art of the finale was raised to its Quanto ii cor honesto sia,
highest peak of poetic and dramatic perfection in the two crowning Deh voi date all'alma mia
glories of the species that end Acts 2 and 4 of Le nozze di Figaro. Quella pace che non ha.
Choosing the key of the second finale meant choosing the keynote of
the opera. There were not many possible choices, to be sure, for only
"' Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, Ideen zu einer Asthetik der Tonkunst (Vienna, 1806), 377.
three keys commonly accommodated trumpets and drums in the The treatise was written in the 1780s.
1780s: C, D, and Eb. Mozart chose D major. Since he wanted a noisy ~5 Rita Steblin, A History of Key Characteristics in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries (Ann
end with trumpets and drums to the opera's medial finale as well (to Arbor, 1983), 70 and 107.
Paisiello set it as a Larghetto in 2/4 and in MozartEI, with lots adopts

of wind an emotio
colour and delicate chromatic shadings, particularly thisfromtext the might
pair of suggest.
clarinets that answer a pair of bassoons in little rhythmic motions,
fluttering motions. A and t
14-bar orchestral introduction exposing the main do theme
notprecedes
stop the there. He u
vocal entry. Mozart does this in 15 bars, preceded by a two-bar
traditional position of in
'curtain' (because he is opening an act). Paisiello's melody sinks
is surprisingly similar,
gracefully from the high third to the upper tonic, bassoons.
then pausesTheir
for a whispere
shadings.
messa di voce on BO before a syncopated flurry carries Does the emph
the voice upwards
by leaps, then down to the lower tonic (see Example 22) 1). His harmonies
not sound familiar? A
6-4 to tonic? Perhaps the
bars 11-13 testifies most
Example 1. Opening of cavatina in II barbicre di Siviglia
Larghetto cavatina. To project the l
to a prolonged AO - a mo
so, than Paisiello's mom
Rosina: Giu-sto ciel che co - no - sce- te quan-to il cor o - ne - sto si - a
appoggiatura on GO in th
that will recur in sever
x,rw" --'I I- !.,---- "-- --
quan - to it cor o - ne ----- sto si - a
counts to the full in Moz
altered or omitted. By c
loose-jointed and discursi
Mozart seems to have
move slowly, by the bar; his choice of a modal degree
characters (the supertonic) in II barbiere a
wouldis
for the second chord is one of his favourites, as notthe
take the most astute
very listener to catch a resemblance
tender
progression of subdominant 6/4 to tonic at the between
second what 'Quanto
Figaro singsil in cor'.
the duetto No. 5 of II barbiere, when
A more dramatic tone intrudes when, in the middle ofCount
telling the thethatpiece,
his shop there
is only four steps away (see Example
3), with the
is a forte outburst in the orchestra on an augmented vigorous
sixth dactyls he
chord sings at the end of 'Se vuol ballare',
and
Rosina responds with a 'giusto ciel' carrying her voice up to high Gb
Example 3. From duetto
(see Example 2). The Rosina who sang this with great success in the No. 5 in II barbiere di Siviglia
Example 2. From cavatina in II barbiere di Siviglia ~- ' ? ? V ' r F

Figaro: La mia bot - te- ga p a quat-tro pas - si
AI"f 6I&
Giu - sto ciel, giusto ciel Example 4. From cavatina No. 3 in Le nozze di Figaro
first Viennese production of II barbiere was Nancy Storace. It was in all

Figaro: tut - te le mac - chi-ne ro - ve- scie - rb
likelihood this piece that won Storace the emperor's praises for her
cantabile.
Countess Almaviva sings a more desperate plea for relief from the
torments of love. Once again she takes us, the audience, into her now in defiance of the same Count (see Example 4). The latter is also
confidence, but no one else. Only a few years older, she is a lot wiser made to introduce him in Act 2, scene i, when he sings it to 'La la la la
and sadder. The young Count not only neglects her but has become a la la la la la la', lending it the force of a 'signature tune' with a life of
its own. In the text of II barbiere Figaro is described from the outset by
philanderer. Her plea finishes with an ultimatum - give me back my
love or let me die: the Count as 'grotesco e comico', and as 'grosso e grasso', whereas
Figaro recognizes the Count under his disguise by 'quel aria nobile'.
Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro Paisiello conveys Figaro's earthy and rather doltish qualities from the
Al mio duolo, a' miei sospir: very first words he sings, a song he is making up (none too expertly) in
O mi rendi il mio tesoro, praise of wine; it begins with a thud on the downbeat and uses the
O mi lascia, almen morir!
combination of 6/8 time and G major in a sing-song way that will
Example 5. Opening of II barbiere di Siviglia Example 8. Vaudeville in L

Rit:
S~ R"94 2 Violini
Figaro: Di-mo al-la no - jail ban - do

D'u- ne vii - ne crain-te mon
characterize Mozart's peasants (see Example 5). It is Figaro, of

course, who leads on the peasants in Act 1 of Le nozze, so that they can
sing their little chorus of praise to the Count for abolishing the jus
primae noctis (see Example 6). Both airs project the same simple-
Example 6. Peasants' Chorus from Le nozze di Figaro
ame est at - tein -te, u - ne vai - ne crain- te vous tient en sus - pens; so -
Gio - va - i lie - te
minded rusticity, aided by the same flat-footed beginning without

upbeat and the stepwise movement of the tunes from the tonic up to
the fifth, as in many folksongs. G major conveys an equally rustic,
- yis plus pru - den - te et c - dis au tems, coie il se pri - sen- te pour
down-to-earth quality when Figaro breaks into the finale of Act 2 in Le
nozze, which had just reached a big cadence on BO, and without any
transition we hear the pipers who have come to start the nuptial
festivities (see Example 7). That tune could have been placed in
Example 7. From Act 2 finale of Le nozze di Figaro
moi je le prends, corne il se pri - sen- te pour moi je le prends.
Figaro: Si - gno- ri di fuo-ri son gi i suo-na - to- ri
Figaro's mouth in the previous opera by Paisiello without seeming out

of place, but it was not. It comes, rather, from elsewhere, being an old
vaudeville tune from Paris that had been known in Vienna for at least passed into Benucci's part as Figaro, who comes to believe he has
30 years, ever since Gluck arranged it in Le chinois poli en France (see been duped in the last act of Le nozze. The final aria for Figaro/Benucci
Example 8).16 accordingly became a bitter recitation of women's failings. Da Ponte
Did Mozart know he was quoting a vaudeville of many years earlier? faced a case of major surgery here with respect to the play. Beaumar-
What appears most likely is that this simple but catchy little air had chais had made Figaro's great monologue in Act 5 the high point of
entered the repertory of dances played by Viennese tavern fiddlers the play. Recounting the picaresque details of his life, Figaro takes the
and the like, in other words, had survived the intervening decades opportunity to denounce aristocratic privilege in no uncertain terms,
between 1756 and 1786 as a popular tune. If this theory is correct along with rulers, prisons, censors and a few other choice targets
Mozart not only knew that he was quoting but also made a most canny (accounting in large part for what Joseph II found 'offensive' in the
musical choice by which to convey to his audience the arrival of the play). His denunciation of women is only the framing prelude and
rustic pipers. coda of this famous tirade which begins 'O femme! femme! femme!
The most comic role in Paisiello's Barbiere belonged not to Figaro creature faible et dicevante!' and ends with another three-fold
but to old Doctor Bartolo, played in Vienna by Benucci. Some of the invocation, 'Suzon, Suzon, Suzon! que tu me donnes de tourments!'
sardonic wit of the duped Bartolo in the earlier opera seems to have Da Ponte used the latter at the climax of the recitative leading into the
aria: 'Oh Susanna, Susanna, quanta pena mi costi!' For his catalogue
16 Bruce Alan Brown, 'Christoph Willibald Gluck and Opera-Comique in Vienna, 1754-1764'
of invectives he relied more on older Italian models. Mozart, we
(dissertation, University of California, Berkeley, 1986), 345-6. suggest, profited from Benucci's acting and singing of Bartolo's
Example 9. Opening of aria No. 8 in II barbiere di Siviglia rhythmic pattern w

Moderato of Paisiello's favour
timate syllables (cf.
Ic bK- q I - i I 10L _ ---_-a I I, Act 1 to press this r
Bartolo: Ve- ra- men-te ho tor - to, & ve - ro: ve - ra- men - te tor- to, ve - ro
the first number, th
The orchestra sounds
scornful aria in EO, in which he taunts Rosina (see Example 9). It with Susanna in the ante-room between the bedchambers of the Count
debases all the amorous-noble-pathetic content of EO, replacing it and Countess. It has the same upbeat in dotted rhythm as Example 9
with their opposites. The rhythmic pattern Paisiello uses,is one of his and 'Non piii andrai', giving it strong forward motion and a march-
preferred ones for an eight-syllable line, the accent patterns of the like vigour. Figaro joins the treble line on the strongest accent, the
words permitting. To set Figaro's hard words Mozart chooses the penultimate crotchet, his vocal leaps sounding gruff and coarse in
same key, metre and tempo: EO in common time, moderato. Moreover, comparison with the smooth second idea sung by Susanna, as she tries
he confines Figaro at first to rocking thirds, back and forth, then the to get Figaro to look at her and admire her hat. The reason is partly
same a step higher (after an intervening line), which comes quite close that Susanna's line is conjunct and nicely ornamented with melodic
to what Benucci had sung as the irate Bartolo (see Example 10). turns and a little closing sigh. More subtly, it is that Mozart has made
a metric displacement, starting the line on the third beat, in the
Example 10. Opening of aria No. 26 in Le nozze di Figaro manner of a gavotte.'7 When the third beat and first beat vie for the
metric accent, the result is an ambiguity and delicacy that are also
Moderato -A- , projected as dramatic qualities defining Susanna. She completes the
Figaro: A - pri- te un po' quegl' oc - chi uo- mi-ni in-cau-ti e scio-chi, guar-da - te que-ste
phrase with another and more melodically expansive passage in
gavotte rhythm, covering the territory from the high tonic to the low
as she repeats the words 'sembra fatto in ver per me'. Here Mozart is
quoting himself, whether he knows it or not. The very same cadential
femrn - mi- ne, guar - da - te co - sa son
phrase occurs in the Ouverture (bars 68-70 and 72-4) to his ballet Les
petits riens, composed in Paris during the summer of 1778. Susanna
Bartolo goes on to mock Rosina, quoting her fib about sending some becomes a little more mondaine with that confidently tossed-off caden-
sweets to Figaro's daughter (when she was, of course, sending a tial phrase, which seems to say that she is in control here, and indeed
message to the Count), a grim moment which Paisiello captures by she is. Every reader will know how the duettino comes out in the end:
repeating the same short motif over and over, driving home his point Susanna makes Figaro sing her tune to her rhythm, while compli-
(see Example 11). Mozart does something with similar effect when he menting her on her hat. With this little drama in music, which almost
needs no text, Mozart has succeeded in foreshadowing the entire
Example 11. From No. 8 in II barbiere di Siviglia opera in the first number. By the end of Act 4 Figaro will have been
taught a lesson by Susanna, and learnt to sing her tune for good, we
- 1 - r 'L I " r ,E4 - . hope, with regard to matters of trust and mutual respect between
them.
Bartolo: ch'al-la fi-glia del Bar- bie-re un car-toc-cio pien di dol. ci in quest' og- The
gi si conflict
man - d6of march and gavotte, of military masculinity with
the feminine grace of one of the most gallant court dances, will occupy
Example 12. From No. 26 in Le nozze di Figaro us further in connection with 'Non piui andrai'.
Figaro's grand lesson to Cherubino on military life represented as
bold a solution to ending Act 1 as did 'Porgi, amor' to beginning Act 2.
Figaro: son ro - se spi-no-se, son vol- pi vez- zo- se, son or - se be - Beaumarchais
ni-gne, co-lom- be had ma-
allowed his first act to wind down with a proverbial
li-gne..
and off-colour witticism. The architects of Le nozze aimed much
higher. 'Non piT u andrai' arrives with a sense of inevitability not only
makes Figaro intone his monotonous litany of feminine
because Mozart planted wiles
its rhythm(see
in the opening number, but more
Example 12). Buffo patter like this brings Figaro right because
importantly down tobeen
it has theset up as a tonal goal, both in
level of Bartolo. He is indeed his father's son in this, his lowest short-range terms, being preceded by the twice-sung Peasants'
moment, and there is a delicious irony in the family resemblance.
"7 Our reading of the duettino No. I parallels to some extent that of Wye Jamison Allanbrook,
Benucci's famous 'Non piiu andrai' to end Act 1 of Figaro betrays, in Rhythmic Gesture in Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni (Chicago, 1983), 75-7, but does not
its turn, a few hints of inspiration from the previous Figaro opera. The stem from it.
Chorus in G (which serves as dominant preparation),

art.and inSome
long- credit for
range terms that reach back to the initial duettino in to Paisiello
G. Da as well.
Ponte was
particularly proud of 'Non pidi andrai', and justifiablyAct so.1, part
He i of II barbiere (equivalent
quoted it to Act 1 of Figaro) is constructed
with afar
in both the Extract and the Memorie as an example of how clever use of
his dominant-to-tonic patterning within and between
verses
went beyond a few seminal ideas from the play in some the numbers of (indicated
the most by arrows in Figure 1). The strophic serenade
important numbers of the opera. It diminishes none of his accom-
plishment to call attention to a long tradition of suchFigurearias
1. Paisiello, II barbiere, Act 1, part i
painting
the sights and sounds of war in Italian libretti.'8 Nor does it take away
Overture
any of his lustre to note that once again the idea must have come from 1 2 3 4 5 6
Mozart, whose scheme of things made an aria like this in Intro. C major Scena e Duetto
a Aria Duetto Cavatina Duetto
C D, GDAsuch
musical necessity. The composer's requirements determined Dg[G] C?C F BO G
large-scale decisions as how to begin and end the big segments of the
opera.
Cherubino as amorous butterfly, flitting from one lady to another, in BO stops the cycle, and sets up the refreshing arrival of t
disturbing their repose, is a charming image that Da Ponte embroi- duet in G for Figaro and the Count.20 The Count's ser
dered upon a line of Figaro addressed to the young gallant: 'Dame! tu bramate, il mio nome', is generally agreed to have been t
ne r6deras plus tout le jour au quartier des femmes.' Mozart sets it to Cherubino's serenade 'Voi che sapete', which is also in
the rhythm noted above, which he makes even more pointed by 'Voi che sapete', 'Saper bramate' never modulates, and sin
additional dotted figures to accommodate the ten-syllable lines. After slow tempo (lento amoroso) it makes for a long static
the cadence on 'amor' the strings sound a new figure on the harmony, providing maximum contrast with the followi
dominant, with trilled turns that bring a coquettish flutter to the sparkling Allegro presto in G. The latter begins without
melody. Figaro continues, describing the beautiful plumes adorning introduction. There is an element of surprise in this, as
the page's light and gallant coiffure. At such a modish image as this of key. The Count starts impetuously, assuring Figaro t
Mozart switches to gavotte rhythm, just as he did for the finery of bring enough gold with which to batter the fortress wh
Susanna's headgear. The violins insist on -the melodic turns the imprisoned (see Example 13). G major seems so right,
second time around by repeating them ever so daintily, and with a
little chromatic inflection that increases the gallant effect. What a Example 13. Opening of duetto No. 5 in II barbiere di Siviglia
portrait of adolescent foppery! What a showpiece for the great Allegro presto
Benucci! The account of the opera by Michael Kelly, who created the
roles of Basilio and Don Curzio, singles out Benucci's performance of Conte: Non du - bi- tar, o Fi - ga-ro, non du - bi - tar, o Fi - ga -ro, dell'
this aria as winning Mozart's praises:
I remember at the first rehearsal of the full band, Mozart was on stage ...
giving the time of the music to the orchestra. Figaro's song, 'Non piui
o - ro io por - - te - rb, deli' o - ro io por - te - ro.
andrai, farfalone amoroso' Benucci gave out with the greatest animation
and power of voice. I was standing close to Mozart, who, sotto voce, was
repeating, Bravo! Bravo! Benucci; and when Benucci came to the fine partly because it was the first tonal resolution following the
passage, 'Cherubino alla vittoria, alla gloria militar', which he gave out Introduzione. There is a sense thus of completing the tonal span
with Stentorian lungs, the effect was electricity itself, for the whole of the proposed by the beginning of the act, following the intervening stops
performers on stage, and those in the orchestra, as if actuated by one
feeling of delight, vociferated Bravo! Bravo! Maestro. Viva, viva, grande 20 Sabine Henze-D6hring analyses the music and dramatic action of Act 1, part i, in Opera
Mozart.19 Seria, Opera Buffa und Mozarts Don Giovanni: Zur Gattungsconvergenz in der italienischen Oper des 18.
Jahrhunderts (Laaber, 1986), 104-10. She shows that Paisiello matches music with stage action
here in a manner that before this time had been found only in finales.
Perhaps the time has come, after 200 years, when we can give a little 2' Edward J. Dent, Mozart's Operas: A Critical Study (London, 1947), 108-9. Speaking of
credit to Mozart's singers for inspiring such a triumph of the operatic Paisiello, Dent says: 'The influence of his music on Figaro is apparent mainly in Voi che sapete,
which was very probably intended as an improvement on the serenade of Count Almaviva at the
beginning of Il Barbiere di Siviglia.' Dent argued (p. 112) that 'the supreme moment of the opera is
the sextet in act III'. It is odd that he did not note its technique of passing short motifs from
'8 For a Venetian example of 1745 see Daniel Heartz, 'Vis Comica: Goldoni, Galuppi and voice to voice in a rising sequence adumbrated in the quintet No. 14 of II barbiere. For the best
L'Arcadia in Brenta', Venezia e il melodramma nel settecento, ed. M. T. Muraro (Florence, 1981), 37. argument that can be made against Dent, see Wye J. Allanbrook, 'Pro Marcellina: The Shape of
'~ Reminiscences of Michael Kelly (London, 1826), i, 255-6. "Figaro" Act IV', Music and Letters, 63 (1982), 69-84.
along the circle of fifths. If we grant Paisiellofinale of

the success of his Act
tonal 4, anot
strategy we must admit that Mozart did something laying similar out the
in relating whole
his outer numbers. 'Non piui andrai' comeswith as both aconsiderable
local and a fla
long-distance resolution, which helps explain thuswhy ithelping
is at once so to tie th
the
satisfying and so electrifying. It begins without a proper duet No.
ritornello too, 17 betw
and with the same universal melody type chosenwith by Act
Paisiello:
1 5-3,
pertains no
4-2; 4-2, 3-1. Mozart does nothing to disguisevia his admiration
the chorusfor of peas
Paisiello's applause-inducing duet, and even includes
BO. the same
Act 4 vocal
may have o
Marcellina
cadence as Example 13 to end his second section and
in the dominant (see Basilio
Example 14). Barbarina was an af
directly after B? is r
Example 14. From aria No. 9 in Le nozze di Figaro in with his men, 'Gen
the Countess, or so h
that follows, the ope
Figaro: quel ver - mi - glio don-ne - sco co- lor. cadence, a long-breat
be out of place with
'Dona nobis pacem' i
Mozart's admiration for Paisiello's popular opera may have sense of long-term s
extended even to the playing off of a flat key against a sharp key, and scampering motions
specifically BO against G. Figure 2 indicates the pairings of these two the relationship of th
Le nozze di Figaro was
Figure 2. Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro
for problems. It could
Overture 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 was more than twic
complicated by plots
Act 2
D. G B 0 F D A EI BO G of C characters. The
where 'it is obvious that the arias for Basilio and Marcellina in Act IV
big
10 11 12 13 14 15 Finale are very much in the way and contribute nothing to the drama; and
they come far too late to illustrate the characters of their singers - we
EIOB0 G C G E[BO GC F BO EO
were left in no doubt about those in Act I'.23 The relationship of the
Act 3 two following arias for Figaro and Susanna, which are both essential
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 for the drama, gave Mozart a lot of trouble. He first sketched the
garden aria, No. 27, as a rondo in cut time and in the key of E? to a
a/A D F CI B0 GjCaC text that began 'Non tardar amato bene vieni vola al seno mio' (see
Act 4 Example 15). Evidently he intended to produce a big rondo of the
23 24 25 26 27 28 Finale
f JG BII E F DG EBG ID Example 15. Opening of rond6 in Le nozze di Figaro
4k l tI6 1, pi a+I 1 Ii i.
keys in successive numbers and within the two finales. The pairings
occur in every act. At the end of Act 1 the terzetto No. 7Susanna:
andNon the
tar - dar a -ma - to be- nc vieni vo - la al sc - no mi- o
repeated peasants' chorus No. 8 mirror the G-BO tonalities of the

fashionable
opening with BO-G. This might be considered a mere happenstance iftwo-tempo variety, but he broke off his set
just
Mozart did not adopt a very similar plan for Act 4. In Act 2, after the theme of the opening slow part made its
following
'Porgi, amor' in Eb, come 'Voi che sapete' in Bb and then Susanna's
dressing aria in G, which was replaced by an aria less difficult
22 Alanto act 'Le Nozze di Figaro: Lessons from the Autograph Score', The M
Tyson,
(1981),
out on stage in the 1789 Viennese revival, but retaining the key 459.
of G.
23 Dent, Mozart's Operas, 110. One scholar who has pursued links between P
We have already seen how G arrives as a surprise in the finale of Act 2.
further is Frits Noske, in The Signifier and the Signified: Studies in the Operas of M
Note that the BC-G pairs occur after Eb not only in this finale
Hague,but also
1977), 26. Noske also effectively contradicts Abert by showing that t
in the sequences of Nos. 6-8, Nos. 10-12, and one last time
Figaro in the
ranks equally with the first (pp. 16-17).
return. Susanna is disguised as the Countess, so key it is not of

unreasonable
EO. To the eve
that she should put on airs and sing something for 'Deh
such as Rosina vieni
herself non t
might. In fact the declamatory outburst in barscomparison
12-14 on the words with 'No
'giusto ciel! perche mai tardi?', taking the voice 'Deh up to vieni'
GO over a complete
dissonant chord with sforzato, is close to what the young Rosina
barely did
notice that it
sing in the middle of Paisiello's 'Giusto ciel' (see first
Example 16vocal
and cf. utterance
The problem of the
Example 16. From rond6 in Le nozze di Figaro the opera was reviv
and she was not wil
place Mozart substit
Susanna: giu - sto ciel! per-chi mai tar - di? desio di chi t'adora
another hint that Mozart never could have intended EO as a viable
solution. Caterina Cavalieri, who had created the role of Constanze in
Example 2 above). Storace would have noticed the resemblance, since
Die Entfiihrung, took over the role of the Countess. She reacted to the
it was she who had to produce the high GO in both pieces. Was it this
that made Mozart abandon 'Non tardar amato bene'? Or was it enhancement of Susanna's part as might be expected. There are
additions to 'Dove sono' in a London manuscript which Alan Tyson
general disenchantment with a piece of music that laid on the pathos
assigns to this 1789 revival.25 They transform the piece from its
with such heavy brushstrokes? The choice of E was of course
perfect original state, what might be called a 'stripped-down rondo',
appropriate for pathos, but since it followed Figaro's EO aria (or to a more elaborate model, with a transition between the slow and fast
preceded it at one stage, still reflected in the autograph) the result was
an anomaly: two successive arias in the same key. themes very similar to the transition in Sesto's rondb 'Deh per questo
instante solo'. I have long wondered how the motif from the beginning
The roles of the Countess and of Susanna are treated equally in Le
nozze; it is inappropriate to speak of either as the prima donna, of the Figaro overture wandered into Sesto's rondb, at the beginning of
the transition to the fast theme (bars 38-41). Now it appears there was
although the noble rank of the former normally would have conferred
an intermediate link two years earlier in the revised and extended
the distinction on her.24 Storace had been in Vienna longer than
'Dove sono' of 1789, for which none other can be responsible than
Laschi and had sung more leading roles. From her point of view it is Mozart.
easy to understand why she wanted a big dramatic rondo to sing when
masquerading as the Countess. She may in fact have demanded one, University of California, Berkeley
believing that parity of the two roles was at stake. Laschi had sung one
in the middle of Act 3, and it was the most serious piece in the entire
opera, 'Dove sono i bei momenti', a piece with which Mozart took APPENDIX
infinite pains, as his melodic sketches show. Originally he inscribed it,
twice, with the title 'Rond6', and it is just as proud an exemplar of the
two-tempo rond6' in form and style as Donna Anna's 'Non mi dir', Salieri kept a record of his life and professional career. He turned over
Fiordiligi's 'Per pieta, ben mio' or Vitellia's 'Non piii di fiori'. Mozart papers to Ignaz von Mosel, who translated them from Italian into Ger
scratched out, or someone scratched out, the proper appellation and used them as the basis for his publication, Ueber das Leben und die Wer
Anton Salieri, K.k. Hofkapellmeisters (Vienna, 1827). The following ac
'Rond6' on 'Dove sono' in the autograph and replaced it, twice, with
occurs on pp. 30-2:
'Aria'. It may be suggested that when Storace lost her rondo in Act 4 it
was easier to keep peace in the family if Laschi's rondo were at least Mein Meister Gassmann wurde zu jener Zeit nach Rom berufen, um d
not called a rond6. It is just possible that 'Non tardar amato bene' was eine tragische Oper ftir den Carneval (1770) zu schreiben. Ich blieb in
only a feint by Mozart until he brought Storace around to singing what zuriick, um unter dem Vice-Kapellmeister Ferandini die Proben zu Lei
he had wanted her to sing all along. This would explain its impossible Gaston Boccherini, ein Tinzer des Wiener Operntheaters, der die
Dichtkunst leidenschaftlich liebte, hatte unter Beihiilfe des Herrn von
24 Stefan Kunze, Mozarts Opern (Stuttgart, 1984), 245, maintains that Rosina was not noble by Calzabigi... eine komische italienische Oper, unter den Titel: Le donne
birth, that the Count's one unconventional deed was to marry a 'Biirgermidchen'. Beaumarchais letterate, geschrieben, die er dem Kapellmeister Gassmann bestimmte.
intended otherwise; in Act 4, scene viii of Le barbier de Siville the Count says of his future wife:
'Mademoiselle est noble et belle.' The two soprano parts for Rosina and Susanna in Figaro were
so equal as to be exchangeable in the ensembles, a question explored by Alan Tyson in his 25 British Library R.M. 22. i. 3-5. I am indebted to Alan Tyson for his kindness in showing me
article 'Some Problems in the Text of Le nozze di Figaro: Did Mozart Have a Hand in Them?', the early score in question, which we looked at together in the Manuscripts Room of the British
printed below. Library on 3 May 1986.
Calzabigi rieth ihm, sie lieber mir anzuvertrauen,Traume

der,eine seltsame Harmonie, aber so sehr
ein Anfinger inausderder Ferne, und so
Composition, wie er in der Dichtkunst, sich leichter mit
verworren, ihm
dass ich mehr Qualeinverstehen
als Vergniigen empfand und endlich dariiber
wilrde. Boccherini kam daher eines Morgens zu mir,aufwachte.
undEs warfragte
vier Uhr Morgens...
mich Kurz, nachdem ich meine Arbeit
nach
der ersten Begriissung, ohne weitere Einleitung: mit demselben Eifer
Wollten fortgesetzt
Sie wohl hatte,
einsah ich binne vier Woche zwei gute
von
mir verfasstes komisches Operngedicht in MusikDrittheile der Oper in
setzten? IchPartitur gesetzt und instrumentiert...
antwortete
unbefangen: Warum nicht? Und nun erzaihlte er mir ganz aufrichtig, welche
Absicht er damit gehabt, und wie Calzabigi ihm gerathen habe. Aha! dachte
ich, man hiilt dich also schon fdihig, Opern zu componieren! Nur Muth! Wir
wollen die Gelegenheit nicht ungenutzt voriiber gehen lassen! - Ich bat daher
den Dichter mit grosser Ungeduld, mir den Stoff seiner Oper mitzutheilen
und das Gedicht selbst vorzulegen. Beides geschah; und nachdem wir die
Rollen nach der Fiihigkeit der damaligen Singergesellschaft vertheilt hatten,
sagte Boccherini: Ich verlasse Sie nun, machen Sie indessen Ihre Bemer-
kungen, und wenn Sie hier und da einige Veriinderungen in Riicksicht auf
die musikalische Wirkung verlangen, wollen wir sie, wenn ich wiederkomme,
gemeinschaftlich vornehmen. Als ich allein war, sperrte ich mich ein, und
mit entflammten Wangen - wie ich auch sp~iterhin pflegte, so oft ich eine
Arbeit mit Lust and Liebe unternahm - durchlas ich das Gedicht von
Neuem, fand es ftir die Musik allerdings giinstig, und, nachdem ich die
Gesangstiicke ein drittes Mal gelesen, bestimmte ich fuir's Erste, wie ich von
meinem Meister gesehen hatte, die dem Character eines jeden Gesang-
stiickes entsprechende Tonart. Da es bald Mittag war, und ich folglich nicht
hoffen durfte, noch vor der Mahlzeit die Composition anfangen zu k6nnen,
beniitzte ich die bis dahin noch iibrige Stunde, das Gedicht nochmals
durchzubliittern. Schon begann ich bei einigen Stellen auf die Melodie zu
denken, als Madame Gassmann (denn mein Meister war damals schon
verheirathet) mich zur Tafel rufen liess. So lang dieselbe wahrte, kam mir
mein Operngedicht nicht aus dem Kopfe, und ich habe mich nachher nie
mehr erinnern k6nnen, was ich an seinem Mittag gegessen hatte. Nach der
Tafel machte ich... mein MittagsSchlafchen ... [then he takes a walk].
So bald ich mich allein sah, befiel mich ein unwiderstehliches Verlangen,
die Introduction der Oper in Muzik zu setzten. Ich suchte mir daher den
Character und die Situation der Personen recht lebhaft vor Augen zu stellen,
und pl6tzlich fand ich eine Bewegung des Orchesters, die mir den, dem
Texte nach zerstiickten Gesang des Tonstiickes angemessen zu tragen und
zu verbinden schien. Ich versetzte mich nun im Geiste in das Parterre, h6rte
meine Ideen ausflihren; sie schienen mir characteristisch; ich schrieb sie auf,
priifte sie nochmal, und da ich damit zufrieden war, fuhr ich weiter fort. So
stand in einer halben Stunde der Entwurf der Introduction auf dem
Notenblatte. Wer war vergniigter als ich! Es war sechs Uhr Abends und
dunkel geworden; ich liess mir Licht bringen. Vor zw6lf Uhr, beschloss ich,
gehst du heute nicht zu Bctte; die Phantasie ist entflammt, diess Feuer soil
benizt werden. Ich lese das erste Finale, das, was die Worte betriff, beinahe
eben' so anfing, wie die Introduction; ich .lese es noch einmal, mache mir
einen dem Ganzen angemessenen Plan der Tact- und Ton-Arten wozu ich
drei Stunden verwendete, ohne noch eine Note geschrieben zu haben. Ich
fiihlte mich muide, und die Wangen brannten mir; ich ging daher in meinem
Zimmer einige Mal auf und ab, bald zog es mich wieder an das Schreibpult,
wo ich den Entwurf begann, und als die Mitternacht kam, schon so weit
damit vorgeriickt war, dass ich mich hochvergnfigt zur Ruhe begab.
Mein Kopf war den ganzen Tag zu voll von Musik und Poesie gewesen, als
dass ich nicht auch davon hitte tr~iumen sollen. In der That h6rte ich im

Constructing Le Nozze Di Figaro: Sequins) - Da Ponte Damages His Credibility by Claiming in The

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78 DANIEL HEARTZ

a due, a tre, a sei, a

CONSTRUCTING LE NOZZE DI FIGARO 79 80 DANIEL HEARTZ

CONSTRUCTING LE NOZZE DI FIGARO 83 84 DANIEL HEARTZ

Paisiello set it as a Larghetto in 2/4 and in MozartEI, with lots adopts

Example 2. From cavatina in II barbiere di Siviglia ~- ' ? ? V ' r F

first Viennese production of II barbiere was Nancy Storace. It was in all

CONSTRUCTING LE NOZZE DI FIGARO 87 88 DANIEL HEARTZ

Example 5. Opening of II barbiere di Siviglia Example 8. Vaudeville in L

Figaro: Di-mo al-la no - jail ban - do

characterize Mozart's peasants (see Example 5). It is Figaro, of

minded rusticity, aided by the same flat-footed beginning without

Example 7. From Act 2 finale of Le nozze di Figaro

moi je le prends, corne il se pri - sen- te pour moi je le prends.

Figaro: Si - gno- ri di fuo-ri son gi i suo-na - to- ri

Figaro's mouth in the previous opera by Paisiello without seeming out

Example 9. Opening of aria No. 8 in II barbiere di Siviglia rhythmic pattern w

CONSTRUCTING LE NOZZE DI FIGARO 91 92 DANIEL HEARTZ

Chorus in G (which serves as dominant preparation),

along the circle of fifths. If we grant Paisiellofinale of

f JG BII E F DG EBG ID Example 15. Opening of rond6 in Le nozze di Figaro

repeated peasants' chorus No. 8 mirror the G-BO tonalities of the

CONSTRUCTING LE NOZZE DI FIGARO 95 96 DANIEL HEARTZ

return. Susanna is disguised as the Countess, so key it is not of

Calzabigi rieth ihm, sie lieber mir anzuvertrauen,Traume

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