The Marriage of Figaro is a comic opera in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on May 1, 1786. The opera's libretto is based on the 1784 stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais called "The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro". It tells how the servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna and teaching him a lesson in fidelity.
Cast:
Count Almaviva - Ingvar Wixell
Contessa di Almaviva - Jessye Norman
Susanna - Mirella Freni
Figaro - Wladiniro Ganzarolli
Cherubino - Yvonne Milton
BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Sir Collin Davis - conductor
PHILIPS - 1971