Germany Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro: Soloists and Chorus of Stadttheater Bremerhaven, Philharmonic Orchestra Bremerhaven / Davide Perniceni (conductor). Bremerhaven, 15.3.2025. (DM-D)
As soon as conductor Davide Perniceni took his first bow at the podium and the first bars of the overture rang out, the closed curtain was illuminated and performers emerged from the curtain and from the doors at the side of the stage. They were obviously going about some important, presumably secret business. When they encountered others, they sought to remain undetected. In line with the brisk tempo of the overture, which foreshadowed Perniceni’s sensitive approach to the score throughout, there was thus plenty of running around going on. For the characters, such speed, such thinking about what to do on the spot, constituted their daily lives, and despite all possible pitfalls, disasters and mistakes and errors, they were first and foremost enjoying every single moment of it all. The bracing tempi of the orchestral music were complemented and upheld by Perniceni’s expert accompaniment of the recitatives on the cembalo, from which he conducted the entire performance. This arrangement called for an orchestra pit placed several feet higher than usual.
Count Almaviva knew full well that he was after every single female he saw; he enjoyed his self-knowledge, knew as well that he could not and did not want to really do anything about it; knew that he was hurting his wife in this way; but also expected her to get whatever she could and wanted. He enjoyed his own scheming, and when he fell victim to the scheming of others, he was angry only briefly and relished the cleverness of their scheming. Almaviva also fully understood what drove Cherubino. When Cherubino sang his canzone to the Countess and Susanna, Susanna accompanied him on the harp (soprano Victoria Kunze is a professional harpist!). However, Susanna stopped playing the harp after the first verse. Cherubino was singing with ever-increasing verve. The way that both Susanna and the Countess looked at Cherubino showed how fascinated they were by this young man, how attracted to him, at the same time acknowledging their age difference through a motherly dimension in the reaction. This was both comical and moving. A very pointed chord on Susanna’s harp ended the music accompanying Cherubino’s canzone. Such attention to detail was characteristic of Achim Lenz’s entire production, which worked well with the generously conventional set and costumes by Bernhard Bruchhardt; in particular, for the Countess’s bedroom, a full scale wall painting looked beautiful and impressive.
Susanna is the key character in this opera, and Victoria Kunze crowned a magnificent season so far (Liù in Turandot, Eliza in My Fair Lady) in the role. Susanna allows Kunze full display of her overflowing exuberance and energy as an actor, radiant with stage presence at every moment. The role suits Kunze’s voice perfectly, allowing her to mould and shape abundant nuances across well-balanced registers. Her voice has matured steadily over time, from soubrette in the direction of lyrical soprano, with the corresponding shift in sound quality from silver to gold. Boshana Milkov was excellent as Cherubino. She was very comfortable with the brisk pace Perniceni had chosen for her two arias; her lower register is her particular strength, which serves as a very valuable springboard for the higher ones. Kristín Anna Guðmundsdóttir presented a very dignified Countess, whose interactions with Cherubino suggested that she was not averse to some fun outside her marriage either, even though she was clearly deeply hurt by her husband’s infidelity. Her voice was crystal clear rather than warm, with controlled tight vibrato at times and blooming on her crescendos The contrast between her voice and Kunze’s was thus the other way around, from the more traditional, and perhaps also more frequent high timbre for Susanna and mellower sounds from the Countess. Indeed, with only a little effort, the two singers could have swapped roles.
I saw and heard Florian Götz sing Figaro in Lübeck nearly a year ago. In terms of acting, he was fully able to be the different kind of Figaro that the Bremerhaven production required, compared to the Lübeck one. His voice has matured further to suit the music, with an entirely comfortable command of the lower register and much advanced breath control. Marcin Hutek had introduced himself to the Bremerhaven company at an event to open the 2020/2021 season with the Count’s aria ‘Vedrò, mentr’io sospiro’. Over the ensuing seasons, he has become a reliable company member, with the usual range of smaller and larger roles, which now culminated in his portrayal of Count Almaviva. He developed a nuanced physical context and rendering of the role – characterised by an intriguing juxtaposition of courtly manners with upright posture and formal movements – of the man driven by his sexual and sensual desires. Vocally, he was very much at ease with the music composed for his role. He sang with a fine balance of registers and volume, the core of the voice firm, robust and ringing.
Brigitte Rickmann made the most of the small role of Marcellina (her Act IV aria was cut), rendering her character’s aggression without distorting her voice to make it sound unpleasant. Ulrich Burdack clearly relished Bartolo’s aria ‘La vendetta, oh, la vendetta’. Gustavo Oliva was cast both as Basilio and Don Curzio. He managed to create two very distinct and funny characters, not only in appearance and behaviour, but also vocally. Katharina Diegritz was very engaging as Barbarina, with a secure, silvery soprano. Mashahiro Yamada contributed a well-sung sturdy Antonio.
Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe
Production:
Director – Achim Lenz
Stage and Costume design – Bernhard Bruchhardt
Lighting design – Frauke Richter
Chorus director – Edward Mauritius Münch
Dramaturgy – Torben Selk
Cast:
Figaro – Florian Götz
Susanna – Victoria Kunze
Count Almaviva – Marcin Hutek
Countess Almaviva – Kristín Anna Guðmundsdóttir
Cherubino – Boshana Milkov
Marcellina – Brigitte Rickmann
Bartolo – Ulrich Burdack
Basilio / Don Curzio – Gustavo Oliva
Barbarina – Katharina Diegritz
Antonio – Mashahiro Yamada