Le nozze di Figaro: The Power of Music

I. The Force of Comedy

A.  Opera buffa and Political Order

B. The Social World of Opera

C. Mozart’s Dangerous Idea

II. Subversive Music: Act I, Scene I

A. Figaro and Susanna: Getting Things Done in an Enlightened Era

B. Susanna Made Her Own Hat.

C. Enter the Problem

D. A Problem with a History: droit du seigneur

III. The Count’s Fatal Error: Act I, Scenes 5-8

A. Disguises in the House

B. Cherubino’s Passionate and Changeable Nature

C. Hide and Seek

D. The Consent of the Goverened

IV. Act II: Trials and Errors

A. Who’s in the closet?

B. Who wrote the letter? Act II, Scene 10