Premiere of The Marriage of Figaro (1784)

On 27 April 1784, Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais's comedy La folle journée ou Le Mariage de Figaro premiered at the Comédie-Française in Paris, after King Louis XVI's ban on the play was lifted that year. The comedy later inspired Mozart's 1786 opera.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, born in Paris on 24 January 1732, was a French playwright and diplomat of the Age of Enlightenment. He had already established his name with Eugénie, premiered at the Comédie-Française in 1767, and written Le Barbier de Séville, premiered there on 3 January 1775.

Censorship and the King's Relenting. The Marriage of Figaro met with opposition, as its thinly veiled satirization of the aristocracy did not go without resistance. The King finally relented and lifted the ban on the play in 1784, clearing the way for its premiere at the Comédie-Française.

Aftermath and Legacy. The comedy's success on stage made it a lasting literary property: in 1786 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed the opera Le nozze di Figaro, with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte based on Beaumarchais's play. The opera premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786.

People involved

Sources

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