Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Marriage of Figaro, Overture

Classical music used to get hecklers - political hecklers.  In this age of tuxedos and evening gowns for the symphony, it's easy to forget that.  In our current political silly season with our own hecklers, remember that Mozart had to deal with it, too.

The year was 1786, three years before the U.S. Constitution would be ratified on on the shores of the New World and the French Revolution would shake the shores of the Old.  Politics was thick in the air, and passions ran high.  In this atmosphere Mozart wrote a comic opera where the hero wasn't the Nobleman Count Almaviva, but rather the Count's manservant, Figaro.  The story was based on Beaumarchais's play The Barber Of Seville, which had been banned in Vienna because it mocked the aristocracy.  Mozart was able to convince the Emperor to let it be performed.

It was wildly successful, and annoyed the nobility so much that they hired hecklers to try to disrupt the performances.  It didn't work.  The audience wanted to hear that message.  Whether the same is true today is something that only time will tell.