LE NOZZE DI FIGARO
by Neil Fisher at Covent Garden

The Times, UK
The Sunday Times
June 20 2006

No doubt about it: Covent Garden’s production of Figaro, given
its premiere in January and now back for the summer instalment of
Wolfie’s 250th-birthday party, is here to stay. Slicker than many a
West End spectacular, David McVicar’s sprawling production takes us
round every nook and cranny of Count Almaviva’s château, shedding
perceptive light on the murkiest corners of Mozart’s opera buffa.

One of McVicar’s greatest strengths has always been his knack for
sharp characterisation, and one of the most admirable features of this
production is how memorably he defines all the servants, masters and
hangers-on who can so often merge into a generic blur. The normally
frumpish Marcellina is a much more touching, fragile figure than usual
(deftly played by Diana Montague); John Graham Hall’s wonderfully
shifty Don Basilio has one reptilian eye on all the house intrigue –
and another on the randy adolescent page Cherubino.

Do McVicar’s instincts for big-house theatrics occasionally cramp the
intimate conflicts at the heart of Figaro? There is the odd moment in
Stephane Marlot’s revival when Tanya McCallin’s vast set and the hordes
of extras intrude on the drama rather than adding to it, particularly
when it comes to the Count’s glowering Act III aria, which is awkwardly
delivered in plain view of both his allies and adversaries.

When this production was new McVicar could take advantage of two
cocky stags as his Figaro and the Count; now the sparring duo are more
low-key. Once into his stride, Kyle Ketelsen’s Figaro is a loveable
scamp, singing with gusto and swagger. Michael Volle’s Count is more
problematic. This lord of the manor is too blustery and foppish to earn
either our scorn or our sympathy, and no Count should ever get audience
laughs when he begs forgiveness after his climactic come-uppance.

It’s the women who lift the show this time around. Isabel Bayrakdarian
makes a sparkling Covent Garden debut as Susanna, the moral compass
of this Figaro. The Canadian-Armenian soprano’s portrayal is bubbly,
brave and resourceful, and she uses her darkly tinted soprano to
delicious effect in both aria and recitative.

Sophie Koch’s gawky Cherubino is rapturously sung, her Voi che sapete
a proper showpiece full of ardent longing.

But two starry performances stick out for posterity. One is Soile
Isokoski’s supremely poised Countess, who provides the best singing
I’ve heard this season at Covent Garden with her rapt, silvery tone.

And the other is Colin Davis, conducting with a wry smile and an
unerring sense for the emotional tempo of Figaro. His Mozart is richly
coloured, poignant, lyrical and witty all at the same time – and
gives us all the bittersweet ambiguity we need to complete the picture.

Box office: 020-7304 4000

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