The Marriage de Figaro had caused a sensation written, as it was at a time of revolution. Its subject matter – of servants rising up and outwitting their masters – outraged the aristocracy. This caused the play to be banned in many cities, including Vienna, where Mozart was based at the court of Emperor Joseph II.
However, one performance proved to be more outrageous. The cast had to remain stoical and keep going until the bitter end. Unfortunately, being about a barber (Figaro), among the properties was a razor, put to grusome use by one of the actors.
‘German phlegm.–On the representation of the Marriage de Figaro, at the Cassel Theatre, on the 2d of March, M. Pistor, who performed the part of Bartolo, varied the accustomed action of the piece by cutting his throat with a razor, while standing before a glass, without evincing any extraordinary previous emotion to lead to a suspicion of his dreadful intention. The other performers do not seem to have been too violently affected by the event, as, without any interruption to the scene, another person was substituted for the deceased, and at the close of the performance apologized for M. Pistor’s absence, on the score of his having killed himself !’
Stamford Mercury, 9th May, 1828