A perfect ‘Figaro’ at Glyndebourne

A famous German opera director, Götz Friedrich, used to offer his students a crisp 50 Deutsche Mark note if they could faultlessly recount the plot of The Marriage of Figaro. He never had to pay out. Over more than 3 hours of sublime music all sorts of shenanigans play out — no wonder its subtitle was la follia giornata (“the crazy day”).

The lower classes get the better of their masters, but no-one really seems to know what’s going on. Only the servant Figaro, who adapts himself effortlessly to constantly changing circumstances, seems to come through pretty well unscathed. This is the same Figaro who is the friendly and scheming barber in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. The Count in this opera is Count Almaviva from The Barber, and most of the other characters also appear in Rossini’s comedy. In fact the whole thing is taken from the second part of Beaumarchais’ trilogy, revolving around the clever and enterprising Figaro.

When Mozart’s opera was first produced in the late eighteenth century the plot was contemporary, unlike many earlier operas on themes from the Classical world, but trying to update it to a modern setting is quite likely to fail. At Glyndebourne, the director Mariam Clément has wisely located it in its own time. Simple but effective designs by Julia Hansen form a fine backdrop for the sometimes frenetic activity and emotional turmoil on stage.

This was the first night of a new production at Glyndebourne and there was a glitch in the second half, between Acts 3 and 4: apparently the revolving stage failed to operate properly. When a Glyndebourne manager in red braces came on to announce the problem, it seemed at first to be part of the show, but as with the best comedies it eventually resolved itself, and we continued after a ten minute interruption.

All the main characters in this opera — the Count, Rosina the Countess, her maid Susanna, the Count’s valet Figaro and his page Cherubino — are young and Glyndebourne has chosen fine young singers for these roles: Huw Montague Rendall, Louise Alder, Johanna Wallroth, Michael Nagl and Adèle Charvet. Only Michael Nagl as Figaro disappointed as he lacked the charisma and vocal agility of the others, but Louise Alder as the Countess and Johanna Wallroth as Susanna were sheer delight. In the more mature roles of Marcellina and Dr Bartolo, Madeleine Shaw and Alessandro Corbelli were excellent, and Alexander Vassiliev was huge fun as Antonio the gardener, to say nothing of Elisabeth Boudreault as a pretty young Barbarina, who gets her beloved Cherubino.

If The Marriage of Figaro is the perfect operatic comedy then Glyndebourne has created its perfect staging. It should last for years to come, and this first night performance with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under the baton of Riccardo Minasi produced an exquisite blend of music and singing. Less perfect performances can sometimes seem to drag, but this was exciting throughout and benefited from an extremely responsive audience. Performances continue throughout the summer until August 21.

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