Opera opens this weekend

Though it only played nine performances in its original production in Vienna in 1786, Mozart's opera buffa "The Marriage of Figaro" has become one of the world's most popular and most performed operas.\nThrough its political and social outlook, though lessened from Beaumarchais' play of the same name, it portrays servants as intelligent and nobles and masters as scheming and dumb. The opera was not a huge success in the royal court and it took a lot of coaxing by the librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte, for Emperor Joseph II to allow the performance.\nThe famed opera will open at 8 p.m. Friday at the Musical Arts Center and will continue September 22, 28 and 29. "Figaro" begins the IU Opera Theater's 2001-2002 season, "See the Stars of Tomorrow, Today."\nTickets are available at the MAC box office or any Ticketmaster location for $18-$28 ($9-$14 for IU students). An "Opera Informance," presented by Stage Director Vincent Liotta, will precede the show at 7 p.m. in the MAC Mezzanine.