rts
that he did it.

A ludicrous side plot unfolds at this point. Marcellina appears with a
contract of marriage signed by Figaro, bringing Bartolo as a witness.
The Count decides that Figaro must fulfil his contract, but the latter
escapes by showing that he is the son of Marcellina, and that Bartolo
is his father. Meanwhile the main plot is developed in another
conspiracy to punish the Count. Susanna contrives a rendezvous with
the Count at night in the garden, having previously arranged with the
Countess that she should disguise herself as the maid, the latter also
assuming the part of the Countess, and arrive in time to surprise the
two. The page also puts in an appearance, and gets his ears boxed for
his attentions to the disguised Countess. Figaro, who has been
informed that Susanna and the Count are to meet in the garden, comes
on the scene, and in revenge makes a passionate declaration of love to
the supposed Countess, upon which the Count, who is growing more and
more bewildered, orders lights and makes his supposed wife unveil. The
real wife does the same. Covered with confusion, he implores pardon of
the Countess, which is readily given. The two are reconciled, and
Figaro and Susanna are united.

The whole opera is such a combination of playfulness and grace that it
is a somewhat ungracious task to refer to particular numbers. In these
regards it is the most Mozartean of all the composer's operas. The
first act opens with a sparkling duet between Figaro and Susanna, in
which she informs him of the Count's gallantries. As she leaves,
Figaro, to the accompaniment of his guitar, sings a rollicking song
("Se vuol ballare, Signor Contino"), in which he intimates that if the
Count wishes to dance he will play for him in a style he little
expects. In the second scene Bartolo enters, full of his plans for
vengeance, which he narrates in a grim and grotesque song ("La
Vendetta"). The fourth scene closes with an exquisite aria by
Cherubino ("Non so piu cosa son"). After an exceedingly humorous trio
("Cosa sento? tosto andate") for the Count, Basilio and Susanna, and a
bright, gleeful chorus ("Giovanni lieti"), Figaro closes the act with
the celebrated aria, "Non piu andrai." Of the singing of this great
song at the first rehearsal of the opera Kelly says in his
Reminiscences: "I remember Mozart well at the first general rehearsal,
in a red furred coat and a gallooned hat, standing on the stage and
giving the tempi.