The Abduction of Figaro The Abduction of Figaro The Abduction of Figaro is a comic opera, described as "A Simply Grand Opera by P. D. Q. Bach," which is actually the work of composer Peter Schickele. It is a parody of opera in general, and the title is a play on two operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: "The Abduction from the Seraglio" and "The Marriage of Figaro". Those two operas, "Così fan tutte", and "Don Giovanni", as well as Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance" are among the core inspirations for the piece. Schickele was commissioned to "discover" this opera by the Minnesota
Stefanos Lazaridis Nightingale". He attracted attention for his designs for Antony Tudor's "Knight Errant" for the Royal Ballet's touring company in 1968, and was invited to design a new production of "Carmen" for the director John Copley at Sadler's Wells Opera in 1970. Lazaridis's early designs were naturalistic and lavish, and suited Copley's approach to production. They worked together both at English National Opera (ENO) ("The Seraglio", 1971, "Il trovatore", 1972) and Covent Garden ("Le nozze di Figaro", 1971, "Don Giovanni", 1973). In the 1980s, Lazaridis worked a great deal with David Pountney at ENO. His design style moved away from opulent