Singers Vote “Figaro” Greatest Opera Ever
The Marriage of Figaro has been voted the greatest opera ever written, in a BBC Music Magazine poll of 172 of the world’s greatest opera singers, including tenor/baritone Plácido Domingo, sopranos Kiri Te Kanawa (who just announced her retirement from singing publicly) and Renée Fleming and bass-baritone Bryn Terfel. Mozart’s comic opera received more than double the number of votes than the runner-up, Puccini’s
La bohème. Written in 1786 in just six weeks, Figaro famously received five encores at its première, and has gone on to become one of the most performed operas in history. Singers said they chose the comic opera for its exciting momentum, fine ensemble writing and rich portrait of humanity. ‘The Marriage of Figaro is such a human portrait’ says Renée Fleming. ‘No matter how many times I sing this opera I am always completely stunned how little people have changed since Mozart’s time, in terms of relationships and the manoeuvring they do.’
