LE NOZZE DI FIGARO (THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO) is based on LA FOLLE JOURNEE OU LE MARIAGE DE FIGARO (1784), a comic play by Pierre Beaumarchais. Lorenzo Da Ponte, who also collaborated with Mozart on DON GIOVANNI and COS� FAN TUTTE, wrote the libretto, which tells the story of the servant Figaro, and his lover, Susanna, who overcome their employer�s schemes to seduce her and secure their own marital bliss. LE NOZZE DI FIGARO premiered May 1, 1786 at the Burgtheater in Vienna. It has become immensely popular and is among the most frequently performed of all operas. In the Act 3 duet "Sull�aria; che soave", the Countess Almaviva dictates a letter to her maid Susanna inviting her husband to a romantic tryst in order to prove his infidelity. Instrumentation: 0.1.0.1: 0.0.0.0: Str (4.4.3.3.3 in Set): Solo SS.