'Che soave zeffiretto' and the structure of Act III of Le Nozze di Figaro

‘Che soave zeffiretto’, the letter duettino sung by the Countess and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, has achieved iconic status as a perfect example of the transcendental beauty of Mozart’s music. An examination of the extant sources suggests that the composer and his librettist regarded it as a key moment in the opera: the crux of a developing relationship between the two women. A late change of plan over its location led to a reconfiguration of Act 3, resulting in the minor inconsistencies that Robert Moberly and Christopher Raeburn sought to explain in their celebrated double-casting hypothesis. The various versions of the text and a complete continuity draft of the score reveal the meticulous craftsmanship that went into its creation, in particular the development of its comedic potential as a vaudeville.