Mozart’s masterpiece The Marriage of Figaro is a comedy with an elaborate, swiftly paced plot set in a hierarchical society that is notoriously tricky to articulate. Yet David McVicar’s 18-year-old production of Mozart’s opera – now in its tenth revival at the Royal Opera under McVicar’s directorship, remains wonderfully perspicuous and engaging. As on several previous occasions, McVicar has rethought and reworked aspects, carefully modelling it to his new cast, and subtly shifting points of emphasis.
Tanya McCallin’sinventive sets are a triumph, sliding seamlessly from one act to another, furnishing a handsome visual context for the large cast’s richly detailed presentation of a microcosm of European society in a specific historical phase, all atmospherically lit by Paule Constable. McVicar infuses Mozart’s score with incessant action, transposing the setting to Count Almaviva’s 1830s Spanish castle in which the traditional foundations of society are under threat.
This is a real ensemble show, with no weak links anywhere; but there are several superb standout individual performances. Soprano Ying Fang makes her company debut as Susanna, and her voice – both mellifluous and brilliant - sounds exquisite, and is loaded with sensual poise. Luca Micheletti, in the titular role, plays a handsome, vigorous, morally aware Figaro, whose much-delayed marriage to Susanna lies at the heart of the intrigue: his characterful, tensile baritone offering a firm foundation for an interpretation based on the Count’s manservant acting on his intuition, if not always getting everything right. He squares off with tremendous dignity against Huw Montague Rendall’s Count Almaviva, who seems tellingly afraid at times of this man he is contemptuously lording it over. Montague Rendell – attractive and predatory, is more insistently sexual, though less prone to violence than some of his predecessors. His schemes to seduce Susanna repeatedly fail due to a cross-class coalition between his wife and their servants. The promising baritone brings a consistently meaningful approach to text, and an imaginatively construed physical acting manner that triumphs on every level.
His neglected wife, whose forgiveness of her husband’s unfaithfulness brings Mozart’s score to its sublime close, is sung by Maria Bengtsson, whose silky soprano communicates not only the Countess’vulnerability, but also her ultimate transcendent strength. She exquisitely lays bare the Countess’ personal anguish with understated intensity, and is enchantingly gracious at the end as she forgives her husband. Fang’s velvety tone complements that of Bengtsson’s, so the subterfuges and confused identities of the final scenes seem entirely credible. The Countess’ incipient attraction (albeit unacknowledged explicitly) to Cherubino (mezzo Ginger Costa-Jackson) is heavily insinuated in this production. Costa-Jackson brings the ephebic, philogynous teenage boy to life, all his gestures impeccably realized, and his two arias are among the evening’s musical and dramatic highlights. Peter Kálmán delivers grotesque comedy buffoon Bartolo with sharp definition, while Rebecca Evans brings a refreshing level of refinement to the often-parodied Marcellina in her engagingly maternal, ultimately uplifting account of the role.
Secondary parts include Royal Opera stalwarts Adrian Thompson (a superbly sung Don Basilio), Jeremy White (reprising his role as bumbling gardener Antonio whose comic timing is impeccable) and Alasdair Elliott (lawyer Don Curzio). The chorus – comprising the servants and retainers of the Almaviva household– observe, react to, and indeed, on occasion, even participate in the central action, and a group of extra actors add further depth and colour to an already rewarding visual experience.
Julia Jones returns to conduct with verve and finesse, artfully attentive to both balance and tempo whilst emphasizing Mozart’s phenomenal powers of orchestration, fleshing out the emotional highs and lows of the score and highlighting its considerable dramatic flair.
The Marriage of Figaro
Royal Opera House, Bow Street, London WC2E 9DD
For tickets, please call 020 7304 4000 or visit rbo.org.uk
