United Kingdom Glyndebourne Festival 2022 [2] – Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro: Soloists, The Glyndebourne Chorus (chorus director: Aidan Oliver), London Philharmonic Orchestra / Giancarlo Andretta (conductor). Glyndebourne Opera House, Sussex, 22.5.2022. (CC)
Production:
Director – Michael Grandage
Revival Director – Ian Rutherford
Designer – Christopher Oram
Movement Director – Ben Wright
Revival Movement Director – Kieran Sheehan
Lighting – Paule Constable
Cast:
Figaro – Brandon Cedel
Susanna – Hera Hyesang Park
Bartolo – Peter Kálmán
Marcellina – Rosie Aldridge
Cherubino – Emily Pogorelc
Don Basilio – François Piolino
Count Almaviva – Germán Olvera
Countess Almaviva – Amanda Woodbury
Antonio – Nicholas Folwell
Don Curzio- Colin Judson
Barbarina – Charlotte Bowden
First Bridesmaid – Cleo Lee-McGowan
Second Bridesmaid – Elizabeth Lynch
Director Michael Grandage sets Le nozze di Figaro in the 1960s, a time when pretty much anything went – much more than these days, that’s for sure. With the recent #MeToo movement and the outing of major personalities in the musical and entertainment industries (and beyond), the sexually-driven behaviour of the Count in Figaro can – and should – feel uncomfortable. Set in Seville, the Moorish sets from Christopher Oram perhaps take us in our minds to a place that perhaps references another Mozart opera with uncomfortable overtones today, Die Entführung aus dem Serail. This Figaro boasts is a visually appealing set, of that there is no doubt, golden, even autumnal at times, and particularly effective in tandem with Paule Constable’s lighting in the earlier stages of the final act.
There is always a risk with revolving sets – that they won’t revolve. That nightmare came true here: after a fizzing account of the overture the performance was stopped as the sports car that had appeared during the Overture was evidently going nowhere. There was a certain irony that just a couple of days prior, the Opéra Royal in Versailles staged Rameau’s Platée in which the production deliberately embeds such catastrophes as part of its sense of play. Still, while at Glyndebourne this was a definite interruption, the momentum was scooped up nicely by the players and singers. Giancarlo Andretta’s tempi kept the music moving in general, well chosen, satisfying and allowing Mozart’s heavenly flow (particularly in those great act finales) to register. He has the ability to make Mozart’s orchestra sparkle, inviting in the humour of the piece. There is the option of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at Glyndebourne (which ensemble, indeed, has played this production in the past); yet the London Philharmonic Orchestra can, and did, bring great clarity and lightness to the score.
There was a slickness – aside from the glitch – to the production that is most appealing. It is well-worn now (disco-dancing to Mozart must have felt a lot fresher in its earliest days), and there is a certain joy in the well-rehearsed, intricate details of cast interaction.
South Korean soprano Hera Hyesang Park has been making her mark internationally, not least through a superb solo album for DG. She was a light, delightful Susanna, not as ballsy as some but with real musical grace. Her light (but not insubstantial) voice and innate sense of Mozartean style enables her Susanna to shine; and she is a fine comedienne, too. The blending of her voice at the famous ‘Sull’aria’ with the Countess (Amanda Woodbury) was a moment of pure loveliness.
There was a touch less resonance with his role from the Figaro, Brandon Cedel. He is funny (the wig helped), but there was a feeling early on that he would not really touch the depths of this part, and so it was. Germán Olvera’s Count conveyed the character’s baseline nastiness well, but one of the opera’s greatest moments, the final act ‘Contessa, perdono!’, went for little – it should be one of opera’s heart-stopping scenes.
Woodbury as the Countess was heart-rending and beautifully convincing in both ‘Dove sono’ and ‘Porgi amor’. I see that Nardus Williams will sing the Countess later in the run (10, 13 and 16 July), a singer who seems to go from strength to strength; it would be interesting to compare and contrast the two. But there is no doubting that one felt deeply for Woodbury’s Countess.
The Cherubino was the deliciously boyish, cheeky Emily Pogorelc, full of (excess) energy and absolutely up to Mozart’s demands on a technical level. The experienced Peter Kálmán was a fine, strong Bartolo (a brilliant ‘La Vendetta’); Rosie Aldridge a simply wonderful Marcellina (the best comedy of the performance was around the discovery of Figaro’s parentage!). François Piolino was an amusing Basilio. A special mention, too, is in order for Charlotte Boden as Barbarina – a Jerwood Young Artist this year, she excelled in her ‘Pin aria’.
Mozart’s Figaro is well-nigh indestructible, and there was certainly plenty to enjoy here, even if, in the final analysis, it all just fell short of coming together.
Colin Clarke