{"id":508,"date":"2025-12-15T16:42:34","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T16:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/figarofiles\/?page_id=508"},"modified":"2026-02-02T03:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T03:36:26","slug":"finding-spain","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/figarofiles\/deeper-dives\/finding-spain\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Spain in Le Nozze di Figaro"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Emma Harrison ’26<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In The Marriage of Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro)<\/em>, an opera written by an Austrian composer, sung in Italian, and based on a French play, the original place setting of Spain can often get lost in translation. Though the opera is set in Seville, it is important to distinguish between the actual locale and the perceived interpretation of Spain seen in artistic choices made in the opera\u2019s text, music, and staged productions. This article will explore Spanish references that appear throughout the opera and how certain productions highlight Sevillian architecture in set design, thus centering the opera\u2019s Spanish setting.
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An Opera Set in Seville, Spain<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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As prescribed by the 1784 play Le mariage de Figaro<\/em>, by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, the opera is set in \u201cthe chateau of Aguas-Frescas, three leagues from Seville.”1<\/a><\/sup> Seville, a prominent city in the south of Spain, is the capital city of the autonomous region of Andalusia and is situated on the left bank of the Guadalquivir River.2<\/a><\/sup> Andalusia has a history of connections with Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, still seen today in architecture in Seville, Granada, and Cordoba. As an inland port, Seville is one of the largest centers for trade and is connected with countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea and countries in North Africa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Highlighted city of Seville on overall map of Spain – Britannica.com<\/a><\/em> <\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Regional map of Andalusia – Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Photo of the Seville cityscape – Business Insider<\/a><\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Seville became a popular destination for Europeans travelling in the 19th century after the city was highly featured by name or in setting in many operas and musical compositions, including Mozart\u2019s Le Nozze di Figaro<\/em> and Don Giovanni<\/em> <\/strong>(1787), <\/em>Ludwig van Beethoven\u2019s Fidelio<\/em> <\/strong>(1805), <\/em>Gioachino Rossini\u2019s The Barber of Seville<\/em> (1816), <\/em>and Georges Bizet\u2019s Carmen<\/em> <\/strong>(1875). <\/em>Though Seville was never actually visited by any of these composers, the perceived notion of what the city is thought to be has been shaped by the references made in artistic and musical works, sometimes based on cultural assumptions and sometimes based on reality.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Spanish Allusions by Beaumarchais and Mozart<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before writing Le Barbier de S\u00e9ville <\/em>and its sequel, Le Mariage de Figaro, <\/em>in 1775 and 1784, respectively, <\/em>Beaumarchais spent eleven months in Madrid in 1764 and 1765.4<\/a><\/sup> Though he never visited Seville, Beaumarchais encountered dance forms, theatrical performances, and Spanish cultural customs in Madrid that inspired his selection of Seville as the place setting for his two most important works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Act 3 Fandango<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The fandango, performed by one couple consistently snapping their fingers along to their \u201cgyrating hips and suggestive movements,\u201d is most prominently featured in the wedding scene in the Act 3 finale of both the play and the opera.5<\/a><\/sup> This explicit Spanish reference creates a veil of mystery, signaled by its minor key and percussive triple meter rhythms, under which Susanna slips the Count the note to meet her in the garden later on. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Pierre Chasselat, Fandango Dancers (1814) – Wikimedia Commons<\/a> – This painting depicts 19th-century Castilian folk dancers dancing the fandango in two pairs of couples, accompanied by a guitarist.<\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The exact choreography differs with each production, due to score markings made by Mozart in the original score of Le Nozze <\/em>of \u201cfiguranti ballano\u201d <\/em>and \u201cFigaro balla\u201d <\/em>which call for professionally trained dancers and Figaro to dance, yet there are no indications of how to actually perform it nor how it is important to the plot.6<\/a><\/sup> The fandango within Figaro <\/em>primarily functions as a touch of <\/em>\u201clocal color,\u201d which refers to the place setting of a work as marked by its \u201ccostumes, landscapes, or peculiarities.\u201d7<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lack of technical specification has caused an overall dearth of fandango accuracy in productions today, where directors often employ the singers in the ensemble to perform the dance instead of hiring professional fandango dancers (as called for by Mozart), thus causing the choreography to vary in each performance.8<\/a><\/sup> Though not identical across most productions, the fandango choreography in Figaro <\/em>usually features common elements of snapping, raised arms, rhythmic foot stomping, and bodily separation between the two dance partners. In the following two productions, the choreography and marking for the fandango scene differ between stomping, clapping, and audible cheers from the ensemble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Grand Theater of Geneva, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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