[[File:The Nozze di Figaro Anonymous watercolour.jpg|thumb|Le nozze di Figaro, Anonymous watercolour.]]
'''''The Marriage of Figaro, or the Day of Madness''''' (It. '''''Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata''''', K. 492) is an [[opera]] in four acts composed by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] in 1785-1786 to an Italian [[libretto]] by Lorenzo da Ponte. First perfomed in [[Vienna]]'s Burgtheater on May 1, 1786, it ranks as one of Mozart's crowning operatic achievements. Figaro (a beloved operatic character who appears also in [[Rossini]]'s ''Barber of Seville'') is attempting to cleverly thwart the machinations of Count Almaviva, who wishes to seduce Figaro's fiancée Susanna before their wedding night.
The original story for Mozart's opera came from a 1784 [[French language|French]] play by Pierre Beaumarchais. Due to its mockery of the aristocracy, the play's performance was forbidden in Vienna, but according to biographers Mozart and da Ponte snatched up a printed copy before they were banned as well. When the opera version had been commissioned, Emperor Joseph II approved the libretto, and ''Figaro'' enjoyed a modest success in its first performances. However, during the period of [[Metternich]]'s reforms in the early 19th century, the opera's performance was banned as well.