Behind the comic plot of La finta giardiniera lies a subtle portrait of human passions.

Sandrina, a Marchioness disguised as a gardener, is seeking to escape her tumultuous past: she was stabbed by her lover, Count Belfiore, and left for dead. Reunited in the local judge’s mansion, the former lovers find themselves embroiled in a series of quiproquos and disguises, before everything is unravelled in a happy reconciliation.

In 1775, aged just eighteen, Mozart composed La finta giardiniera for the Munich Carnival. The young composer skilfully blends recitative, arias and ensembles, already revealing the humour and humanity that would characterise his future masterpieces.

This opera is performed by the Paris Opera Academy’s artists in residence in Julie Delille’s new staging.