This latest production of the ever-popular Figaro, which opens the WNO spring season of three operas, becomes in the hands of director Lluis Pasqual a light-hearted thirties romp. A co-production with Gran Teatre del Liceu, the breezy staging is admirably backed by the elegant ballroom/conservatory settings of Paco Azorin, with towering doors, huge reflecting mirrors and swish drapes.
This thirties styling, emphasised by Franca Squarciapino costumes, with its out front delivery and eccentric follow spots, is reminiscent of long-gone musical comedies. Mozart meets Noel and Ivor? Overall it works effectively with many imaginative touches, though some of the farcical business looks awkward and forced.
The Susanna of Rosemary Joshua is an arch rather proper maid, nevertheless adept at tantalising both would-be husband and would-be seducer, while combining mischievously with the jaunty Cherubino of Fiona Murphy. David Soar projects strongly as the most unflappable of Figaros, with the anyone for tennis Count Almaviva of Jacques Imbrailo not so much the ruthless sexual predator, but more the too easily duped effete aristocrat. However, it is the Countess of Rebecca Evans who scores the heaviest, tender and moving, a beautifully sung and realised portrayal of much lamented lost love. There are well-rounded characterisations from Sarah Pring as Marcellina, Henry Waddington (Dr Bartolo), Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts (Don Basilio) and Sophie Bevan (Barbarina), with a delightful cameo from Howard Kirk as the outraged gardener. Michael Hofstetter conducts the on-form orchestra.
The English surtitles (plus Welsh for venues in Wales), so essential for a true appreciation of this comic classic, are spot on. After Cardiff, Figaro, Salome and the Elixir of Love tour to Plymouth, Southampton, Llandudno, Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Swansea and Bristol.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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