🗓️ 9–11 May 2019 | 📍 Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, North Yorkshire, UK

“a hugely heart-warming evening in York Opera’s best tradition”

— Martin Dreyer, York Evening Press

York Opera presented a sparkling production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in May 2019 at the iconic Joseph Rowntree Theatre, a beloved community venue in the heart of York. Performed in English, this comic masterpiece delighted local audiences with its wit, elegance, and timeless insight into love and class.

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About the Opera

The Marriage of Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) is an Italian comic opera in four acts, composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered in Vienna in 1786 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest operas of all time.

Based on a play by Pierre Beaumarchais, the opera follows Figaro, a clever servant, as he and his bride-to-be Susanna attempt to foil the amorous intentions of their employer, Count Almaviva. It’s the second part of the Figaro trilogy (following The Barber of Seville), and Mozart’s music elevates the sharp social satire into something transcendent.

York Opera and the community

York Opera’s 2019 performance was part of a long tradition of community theatre in York. Taking place at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre—a venue central to York’s cultural landscape—it brought world-class music to local audiences and showcased the city's vibrant amateur operatic scene.

York Opera’s Interpretation

Our staging leaned into the opera's satirical edge and emphasized the absurdity and poignancy of romantic entanglements and class struggles. Directed by James Wood, with musical direction by Alisdair Jameson, this production used clever staging, period costumes, and dynamic acting to make Mozart’s themes accessible and deeply entertaining for a modern British audience.