Which composer wrote the opera The Marriage of Figaro, first performed in Vienna in 1786?

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote the opera The Marriage of Figaro, first performed in Vienna in 1786.

The opera’s Italian title is Le nozze di Figaro. Lorenzo Da Ponte wrote the libretto, adapting Pierre Beaumarchais’s French comedy. The plot follows servants Figaro and Susanna as they try to marry while outwitting the Count Almaviva, whose behavior creates the central conflict.

Mozart’s score combines fast-moving comedy with unusually deep characterization. The opera includes famous ensembles and arias such as “Non più andrai,” “Voi che sapete,” and “Dove sono.” Its four acts unfold over a single day, creating a tightly compressed dramatic structure.

The opera was commissioned by Emperor Joseph II’s court theater. Some material from Beaumarchais’s play was politically sensitive, but Da Ponte reshaped the story for the stage. The Marriage of Figaro is now regarded as one of the central works of the operatic repertory and the first part of Mozart and Da Ponte’s collaboration trilogy.