Letters: Birth of Figaro

Dr David Devlin
Wednesday 14 August 1996 23:02 BST
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Monsieur: In her entertaining piece about tragedy (The DIY University, 14 August) Edith Hall says that the French dramatist Beaumarchais "composed the libretto for Mozart's Marriage of Figaro. Pas vrai. The libretto was by the amusing old Lorenzo Da Ponte. Beaumarchais' various plays about Figaro and his chums provided the inspiration for this opera plus others by Rossini, Paisiello and Massenet.

Dr DAVID DEVLIN

Cambridge

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