Mozart in 1786, the Neoclassical

Mozart

In 1786, the neoclassical characteristics of balance, discipline, restraint, unity and order were being replaced by the newer concepts of nature and the individuality of man, who took the form of the romantic hero appearing at the end of the 1700s. With revolutions about to begin, fueled by Rousseau, Montesquieu and Locke's writings about the rule of and by the people and about overthrowing monarchies, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as a personality and as a composer, appeared in contrast to the rigid tradition previous to this era.

For example, in his masterpiece, "The Marriage of Figaro," Mozart brings the conflicts of his age into the musical arena as an opera. Figaro was created as an opera buffa, a comic opera popular during this time, a short, humorous entertainment inserted between acts of serious plays or operas. Stock players in these short operas were the clever servant, the miser and the fool. In "The Marriage of Figaro," Mozart used these stock players to pointedly attack the decadence of the aristocracy, usually successful in banning any comment on their extravagances. However, "The Marriage of Figaro" was so popular throughout Europe, that they could not squelch this searing critique.

Napoleon had called the play, on which the opera was based, "revolution already in action." Mozart used the play, about a maid, Susanna, who is to marry a valet, Figaro, as the story line of his opera. Together Figaro and Susana seek to outwit their master who is trying to seduce Susanna. A master had "first night rights" to the female servants when they married in those days.