​Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - The Marriage of Figaro Overture
for Chamber Orchestra

​Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) composed his opera Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) in 1786. It is based on a contemporary play by Beaumarchais that was initially banned in Vienna for its provocative subject manner. Mozart’s librettist Da Ponte convinced the authorities that the play’s political overtones had been removed, and the opera was approved. It tells the story of a single day in the life of a Count and his servants, and although primarily a comic opera, also has great depth of character and moments of personal tragedy. The Overture is well known and unlike Mozart’s later operas with Da Ponte, does not use any material from the rest of the opera. It was supposedly written just hours before the premiere, and it conjures up the energy and wit of the opera in a brilliant virtuoso display. This arrangement is for chamber orchestra, using single wind instruments, one trumpet and a small string section.

Available to purchase from Aria Editions here

Instrumentation: Flute, Oboe, Clarinet in A, Bassoon, 2 Horns in F, Trumpet in C, Timpani, strings (must be at least a medium-sized section, eg. 4,3,3,2,1)

Listen to a performance of the arrangement here:

Marriage of Figaro Overture (4'17)

​Watch a performance of the arrangement here: