The Marriage of Figaro: Recitative and Aria

“Giunse al fin il momento - Deh vieni non tardar”

Bearing in mind that the Burgtheater was in effect the court theatre and that the Beaumarchais play had recently been banned in Vienna as politically subversive, it is surprising that the opera could have been performed there when it was. Indeed, there was much opposition to it, even though Mozart’s librettist Lorenza Da Ponte had toned down its revolutionary ardour. It was only because Da Ponte was a master of intrigue as well theatre that it escaped falling victim to censorship. Susanna’s fourth-act aria “Deh, vieni, non tardar” is a vital item in a servant’s strategy to entrap and embarrass a noble but sexually reprehensible master. Preceded by a recitative accompanied by flirtatious strings, it is so seductive in its woodwind and vocal colouring that the unfortunate Figaro, her servant fiancé hidden nearby, is convinced that she really cannot wait for her assignation with the rapacious Count Almaviva.