SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD UK OPERA REVIEW
 

Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro: Soloists, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, David Syrus (conductor). Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 20.6.2010 (GDn)

Figaro – Erwin Schrott

Susanna – Eri Nakamura

Count Almaviva – Mariusz Kwiecien

Countess Almaviva – Soile Isokoski

Cherubino – Jurgita Adamonytė

Bartolo – Robert Lloyd

Basilio – Peter Hoare

Don Curzio – Christopher Gillett

Marcellina – Marie McLaughlin

Barbarina – Amanda Forsythe

Antonio – Nicholas Folwell

Bridesmaids – Glenys Groves, Kate McCarney

David McVicar (director)

Tanya McCallin (designs)

Paule Constable (lighting)

Leah Hausman (movement)

 

My brief this evening was to review the ‘second cast’ of the Royal Opera’s current Marriage of Figaro, but looking through the cast sheet, the differences are minimal indeed. Only two roles are double cast, the Count and Countess, and only one of those ‘seconds’ sang this evening. The substitute in question was Soile Isokoski, who came close to stealing the show, so I didn’t feel short changed. Sir Colin Davis is arguably the biggest name on the billing, and he too was absent, but his deputy, the dependable staff conductor David Syrus, led a show that was to a consistently high musical standard. An energetic and attentive orchestra, a cast with no weak links, characterful solos and coherent ensembles: from a musical point of view it all added up.

Dramatically too, it is an effective production. It is one of those David McVicar conceptions, where nothing is radically altered or updated from the libretto, yet somehow he manages to really make his mark on it. The premise is an, almost arbitrary, updating to the 1830s, which seems designed more to avoid than to address the interpretive issues, its neither Mozart’s era nor ours, so the feudal politics and social critique can be partially extracted from their original context without having to conclusively locate them elsewhere. Monochrome palatial interiors are the basis of the design, again quite a neutral theme. I found some of the lighting a little intrusive, lots of bright floods from the sides or above, but otherwise all very congenial and uncontroversial. McVicar makes a big thing out of the troupes of servants. It is a clever device in many ways, a constant visual reminder of the servitude of the protagonists. Their choreographed domestic chores are also an effective way of filling the huge stage and keeping the large chorus occupied.

Whether ‘second cast’ or not, the ensemble was impressively led by the principals. For the number of Figaros that Erwin Schrott has sung, you’d think he would be worried about typecasting. However, his dedication to the role continues to pay off, and this performance was spectacular. Anybody who has heard him sing will know that he has the ideal voice for the part: rich and deep but with all the agility and range of colours it requires. He has the stamina for it too, and while most of the other principals faded slightly in the second half, he was as fresh in the final ensemble as he had been when measuring his bed at the start of Act I.

Eri Nakamura is a new name to me. According to the programme, she is a member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme, a career development scheme run by the Royal Opera. So how then did she land the role of Susanna? Budget cuts? Nepotism? All suspicions vanished the moment she opened her mouth, as it instantly became clear that she is a very major talent indeed. Closer scrutiny of the programme revealed that she was a finalist at the 2009 Cardiff Singer of the World, so perhaps it is a name I should have known. It is certainly one I am going to look out for in future. She has a distinctively rich timbre to her voice, and in almost every register. It is the tone of a mature alto, but with the range and flexibility of a young soprano, a beguiling combination. Musically, she is also the perfect partner to Schrott, both have the agility for Mozart’s acrobatics and similarly rich tone colour. Those first act duets have never sounded so convincing. Less convincing was Nakamura’s acting. Susanna is a demanding role from a dramatic point of view, and while she is fine with the doting bride episodes, the furious cuckold is beyond her. There are two points in the action where she really loses her rag, with the Marcellina in Act II and with Figaro in Act III, and both needed something more.

Vocally, the remainder of the cast is a pleasingly diverse mix. Two strong performances from Mariusz Kwiecien and Soile Isokoski as the Count and Countess. Kwiecien is almost, but not quite, the equal of Schrott in terms of vocal prowess and stage presence, and their on stage chemistry, or acrimony rather, is ideal. Isokoski has such a unique tone, with a very narrow but insistent vibrato. That means she can easily set her aristocratic role apart from the crowd, and it is a wonderful additional colour in the ensembles. I was particularly impressed by her phrasing in the big Act III aria, almost conversational at times, with a focussed intensity yet intimate throughout.

Jurgita Adamonyté is another name to watch. Her Cherubino was well acted and crisply intoned. She doesn’t quite have the vocal support of the other leads, but I suspect, given a few more years, her voice will mature into something special. But for this role, it is ideally boyish. Incidentally, I was slightly concerned to see that Adamonyté is substituting Christine Schäfer in this role. What could have happened? I hope Schäfer hasn’t been scapegoated by the management for the poorly-received Tamerlano last season. That wasn’t a great show, but it certainly wasn’t all her fault.

Marie MacLaughlin and Robert Lloyd are another good pairing as Marcellina and Bartolo. Both distinguished themselves in their acting more than their singing, although if they sounded underpowered, that was only by comparison with the more robust voices of the leads.

And, as I mentioned, almost every singer, with the exception of Schrott tired somewhat in the second half. The colours really began to fade in Act IV, which is perhaps understandable given the continuous musical demands on many of the singers. McVicar’s conception requires him to bring the castle gardens indoors, an effect he achieves by lowering trees onto the stage, which otherwise retains the interior sets of Act III. All those ensembles in the last half hour were sung with the required balance and intonation, but they were not to the same standard as those of the first two acts. But that was more of an anticlimax than an outright disappointment. In general, this is a perfectly serviceable, if uncontroversial, production, presented this evening by a skilled and vocally diverse group of singers. Top marks, then, to the ‘second cast’, even if they do look suspiciously similar to the first.

Gavin Dixon