The opera students of the Faculty of Music at the University of Pécs will stage their exam production in the Kodály Centre, so we'll have the opportunity to see the artists of the future. This concert – where the young talents can take to the stage alongside their more mature colleagues – is the first flight of these songbirds leaving the "nest" of their university. The instrumental parts of the opera will also be played by the symphony orchestra consisting of the students of the university. We can be proud of the fruit of many years of hard work and practice and the encounter of creativity, music and youthful dynamism. The graphic design class at the Faculty of Arts of PTE designed a special logo and poster for this occasion. Simultaneously with this opera production, the shortlisted pieces for the joint music competition of PTE and the Pannon Philharmonic will be exhibited and judged by the audience. The opera is a joint venture of PTE and the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek.

Mozart's opera is based on one of Beaumarchais' comedies concentrating on a scandalous subject: the ius primae noctis ('right of the first night'). Accordingly, it was banned at the time not only in Paris but also in other countries. When it could finally be staged in Paris, it was still banned in Vienna, so it came as a great surprise that Lorenzo da Ponte received permission to write a libretto based on the forbidden comedy. However, it was only the beginning of the series of scandals around the piece: Mozart composed this famous opera in miserable circumstances. He hadn't been able to garner any success since The Abduction from the Seraglio, had been part of a weird bohemian company and had hardly been working on his career. Yet, he meant this scandalous composition, The Marriage of Figaro, to be one of the masterpieces of his life. He started the composition process in secret, and in merely six weeks, he completed it. At the same time, he was in great financial straits. In fact, he was thrown out of his apartment on the day of the opera's dress rehearsal due to unpaid rent. The composer was forced to ask his friends for a loan. At the same time, his wife was so sick that she wasn't able to walk. On top of it all, in the meantime, Salieri and his circle were trying to thwart the premiere. Perhaps, Mozart's rivals understood that this piece would take the standards of the opera buffa to a higher level. Finally, the opera was performed in 1786 with acclaim: connoisseurs of music greatly admired it, but the aristocracy was less enthusiastic. In Monza, The Marriage of Figaro was staged with roaring success a year later. It was translated into German, which was the language also of the Hungarian premiere in 1795. In later productions, the performers, however, sang again in Italian.