Mozart's Aria from Le nozze di Figaro (ShawshankRedemption Movie Journal)

<The scene from the movie>

<The original version>

This song was originally a verse in the Mozart's opera, Le Nozze di Figaro (or Marriage of Figaro in English). The opera is about a casanova Count who seeks a love other than his Countess. The Count is tricked, realizes how foolish he was, and eventually ends up loving the Countess again. The Count, at this stage, goes after a beautiful servant named Suzana. This is the scene where the Countess and Suzana forms a plan to trick the Count by writing a letter that is supposedly from Suzana. In fact, the contents are sung by the Countess(yes, it is the very song that you are hearing), while Suzana fervently writes it down. 

The verses are: The soft breeze blows tonight. Under the pine tree of the forrest...the rest he shall know. Sing together dear soft breeze.

In the movie, Shawshank Redemption, the song rather fits to the context of the situation. Andy wants to defy the prison's heavy, dull atmosphere. He does this by building functional library, having beer with his coworkers, and so on. By playing a song that goes right up against the atmosphere of the prison, Andy gives the prisoners hope. 

What I loved about this part was the dialogue of Red and Andy about the situation.

Red Said: I didn't know what those Italian ladies were talking about and didn't want to know because they were like something unexplainable by mere words.

I like to consider this unexplainable concept as freedom, the liberty. Red wouldn't have wanted to know the lyrics of this song. It was through his incapability that he truly understood what Andy was saying.

Andy said that it was an action worth spending two weeks inside the solitary, since he showed that there was something inside his head that the prison could never change.