Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) Overture

Again we are in two places at once. Although Mozart’s opera Le Nozze di Figaro was written in Vienna and first performed there in 1786, it is set in Seville. Based on Beaumarchais’ comedy Le Mariage de Figaro, the French playwright’s revolutionary sequel to Le Barbier de Séville, it does in fact include some Spanish dance music. But there is no time for dancing in the Overture which, with bustling strings and bassoon making the pace, proceeds at a hectic rate of activity, any apparent relaxation of the pressure being introduced only to stimulate the general impatience to get on with it.