1786: The Figaro Revolution

1786, Vienna. A banned play, a cautious Emperor and an ambitious composer. When Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte set out to adapt Beaumarchais's controversial Marriage of Figaro, they are forced to tread carefully. Beneath the comedy lies a story about class, privilege and the abuse of power.

As servants outwit masters and lovers test each other's loyalties, Mozart creates characters of unusual depth and complexity. Drawing together the immediacy of comic opera with the emotional range of serious drama, The Marriage of Figaro helps redefine what opera can achieve, placing recognisably human emotions at the heart of the story.

Gillian Moore is joined by a roster of distinguished historians for this major new BBC Radio 3 series, charting a course through 1000 years of classical music history. For the next eight programmes, historian Simon Schama is in the chair, as together they explore the rich musical world of the Classical era.

Producer: Chris Taylor
Academic Consultant: Professor Laura Tunbridge, University of Oxford
Story Consultant: Kate Leys
Series Editor for BBC Audio: Emma Harding

Key Changes theme tune composed by Joseph Howard and performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Kerem Hasan.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro – “Voi che sapete" (extract)
Frederica von Stade (mezzo-soprano)
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Georg Solti (conductor)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro – Overture
Concerto Köln
René Jacobs (conductor)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro – “Se vuol ballare”
Cesare Siepi (Figaro), bass
Vienna Philharmonic
Erich Kleiber (conductor)

Pergolesi: La Serva Padrona: Duet - Lo conosco, a quegli occhietti
Amanda Forsythe (Serpina), soprano
Christian Immler (Uberto), bass-baritone
Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble
Paul O'Dette & Stephen Stubbs (conductors)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro – “Non so più”
Ann Murray (Cherubino), mezzo soprano
Vienna Philharmonic
Riccardo Muti (conductor)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro – "Dove Sono"
Kiri Te Kanawa (Rosina), soprano
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Georg Solti (conductor)

John Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles - "Once there was a golden bird"
Renée Fleming (Marie Antoinette), soprano
Philharmonia Orchestra
Sebastian Lang-Lessing (conductor)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro – Finale of Act II
Lucia Popp (Susanna), soprano
Samuel Ramey (Figaro), bass
Thomas Allen (Count Almaviva), baritone
Kiri Te Kanawa (Countess Almaviva), soprano
Giorgio Tadeo (Antonio), bass
Jane Berbié (Marcellina), mezzo-soprano
Robert Tear (Don Basilio), tenor
Kurt Moll (Doctor Bartolo), bass
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Opera Chorus
Sir Georg Solti (conductor)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Cosi fan Tutte - "Soave sia vento"
Miah Persson (Fiordiligi), soprano
Angela Brower (Dorabella), mezzo-soprano
Rolando Villazón (Ferrando), tenor
Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, (conductor)

To listen to this programme using most smart speakers, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Key Changes."