Mozart’s life wasn’t
an easy one. His was a hand-to-mouth
existence, constantly having to depend
on friends to provide the daily bread
for his family. This stressful existence,
and periods of ill health with kidney
and other problems, doubtless contributed
to his premature death in 1791. He died
six weeks short of his 36th
birthday, leaving debts that presented
his wife with many problems. However,
Mozart’s life had its moments of good
fortune too, for which we must now be
grateful. In particular were the circumstances
of his meeting with Lorenzo Da Ponte,
the librettist of three of his greatest
operatic compositions. In 1781 during
a visit to Vienna in the entourage of
the Archbishop of Salzburg, his employer,
Mozart went freelance in that city determined
to compose more opera. His ‘Idomeneo’
had just been staged in Munich whilst
in Austria the accession, as sole ruler,
of Joseph II, heralded a more liberal
era in terms of censorship and support
for music. It was this ‘perestroika’
that drew Lorenzo da Ponte to the city.
Libertine and failed priest he might
have been, but he had considerable intellect
and was extremely personable, soon gaining
the ear of the Emperor. Da Ponte met
Mozart at the home of Baron Wetzler
and soon after proposed an operatic
collaboration on the subject of Beaumarchais’s
comedy play ‘Le Mariage de Figaro’.
This was despite the fact that the play
itself was considered too licentious
and socially revolutionary, even for
Vienna. However, Da Ponte, with his
access to the Emperor worked the necessary
miracles, although this necessitated
the more political and revolutionary
aspects of the play being toned down,
and the inflammatory Act 5 monologue
being replaced by Figaro’s Act 4 warning
about women. In between Da Ponte’s ‘toing
and froing’ to the Emperor to overcome
these procedural worries, Mozart composed
the music in six weeks which included
a flare-up of the kidney condition that
was to kill him five years later. Despite
opposition from some conservative sections
of the Court, the work was presented
on May 1st 1786 to an audience
somewhat bemused by the work’s novelty.
At the second performance five numbers
had to be repeated and at the third
seven, with the duet ‘Aprite presto’
(CD 1 tr. 31) performed three times.
This success led directly to further
collaborations between composer and
librettist that have given us ‘Don Giovanni’
(1787) and ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’ (1790) and
which, with ‘Figaro’, are recognised
as being three of the greatest of all
operatic compositions. ‘Figaro’ was
a triumph in Prague, and at its revival
in Vienna in 1789, Susanna was sung
by Da Ponte’s mistress for whom Mozart
composed alternatives to score nos.
13 (Act 2) and 28 (Act 4). These alternatives
are included as an appendix (CD 3 trs.
17-18). In recent years Cecilia Bartoli’s
wish to sing the 1789 Act 4 rondo, rather
than the traditional ‘Deh, vieni, non
tardar’ (CD 3 tr. 10) at the ‘Met’,
caused ructions and the premature departure
of the producer Dr Jonathan Miller!
This recording of ‘Figaro’
is the third Mozart opera that Michael
Halász has conducted for Naxos.
It follows his ‘Don Giovanni’ with the
same orchestral and choral forces, male
leads, producer and engineer, and was
recorded at the same venue. In my review
of the ‘Don Giovanni’ I found the
recording to be clear, well-balanced
and with plenty of air around the voices.
The same applies here with the taut
playing of a smallish band never overwhelming
the singers. However, whilst taut playing
and dramatic thrust are suitable for
the ‘Dramma giocoso’ of ‘Don Giovanni’,
‘Figaro’ is, despite its revolutionary
overtones, designated ‘Opera buffa’.
In this performance I miss the lightness
of touch and turn of the wrist that
should illuminate the humorous core
of the work, despite the drama and travails
along the way. This heaviness of touch
extends to the two male principals in
particular. Bo Skovhus as Count Almaviva
is full-toned and biting in enunciation,
but the Count is a persuasive seducer
not a rapist; he might humiliate his
wife, but he is too much a gentleman
to hit her. Skovhus’s Count comes over
as rather too inflexible in characterisation
and determined in his carnal pursuits.
Even in the finale when he has to plead
forgiveness from his wife (CD 3 tr.
16) one tends to feel that it won’t
be long before he is up to his tricks
again. The other big name in the cast
is Marina Mescheriakova as Countess
Almaviva. It is a part that requires
a firm and even tone and a smooth legato
in just the part of a lyric soprano
voice that takes the strain in Verdi
and Puccini. Frankly, I find Mescheriakova’s
Countess seriously miscast. Her ‘Porgi
amor’ (CD 1 tr. 21) is uneven and unsteady;
weaknesses also evident elsewhere. She
is unable to float the phrases in ‘Dove
sono’ (CD 2 tr. 15) in the manner of
the best recorded Countesses. The intended
newly-weds, Renata Girolami as Figaro
and Judith Halász as Susanna,
are an ill-assorted couple. I admired
Girolami’s Leporello in ‘Don Giovanni’
for his way with his native Italian
words. I do so here also, his clarity
of diction and enunciation are strengths.
This Figaro is no subservient factotum,
quite a revolutionary in fact as he
realises the Counts plans (CD 1 tr.
6). The part requires humour as well
as dominance, particularly when he despatches
Cherubino to the army (CD1 tr.20) and
this is lacking in his characterisation,
not helped by the odd patch of raw tone.
Given Girolami’s portrayal it would
take a formidable Susanna to match him
as lover and wife, and after all it
is she who does the planning and manoeuvres
the Count into eventual humiliation.
The young Judith Halász (b. 1977)
has a mature voice for her age, but
it is not an ideal Susanna voice, lacking
evenness and the ideal young spunky
and sparky quality. Above all characterisation
is seriously lacking. Characterisation
and vocal skills are what Michelle Breedt
brings to the trousers part of the young
buck, Cherubino. Her ‘Non so piu’ (CD
1 tr. 12) and ‘Voi, che sapete’ (CD
1 tr. 24) leave a vivid impression and
I hope to hear more of her vibrant singing
in the future. She is a great strength
in the interplay of the duets, trios
and ensembles that constitute such an
important part of the great work. Of
the other singers, the Marcellina of
Gabriele Sima is noteworthy. Although
sounding somewhat young for Figaro’s
mother, she brings evenness and tonal
distinction to her scenes and aria (CD
3 tr. 5) and I note from the welcome
singer biographies that her ‘fach’ lies
towards the lyric mezzo range.
The three discs are
generously tracked - 33 for the 75min.
of CD 1. There is a very brief essay
and an excellent track-related synopsis
by Keith Anderson, which, like the artist
profiles, are given in English and German.
Unlike the earlier Naxos ‘Don Giovanni’
the full libretto is not given. Normally,
for Naxos issues there is a critical
tendency to forgive limitations in presentation
or casting in view of the price. However,
there is competition at this price level
from Michael Halász’s 2001 recording
on ‘Art Nova’ which includes a full
libretto with translation in English
and German. In my review of that recording
I found it rather studio-bound and lacking
Italian singers with the capacity of
interplay on and with the words - a
weakness here too. I regret that this
‘Figaro’, unlike Michael Halász’s
Naxos recordings of ‘Don Giovanni’ and
‘Fidelio’, will not find a place on
my shelves together with chosen versions
of what is one of my two most favourite
operas.
Robert J Farr
see also review
by Chris Howell who had a high regard
for this recording and it was chosen
as a BARGAIN OF THE MONTH
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Wolfgang
Amadeus MOZART
(1756-1791) Le
Nozze di Figaro (Two
discarded arias for Susanna, Un moto
di gioia and Al desio di chi
t’adora are added as an appendix)
Bo Skovhus (Count Almaviva), Marina
Mescheriakova (Countess Almaviva), Judith
Halász (Susanna), Renato Girolami
(Figaro), Michelle Breedt (Cherubino),
Gabriele Sima (Marcellina), Janusz Monarcha
(Bartolo), Michael Roider (Basilio),
Alexander Klinger (Don Curzio), Orsolya
Sáfár (Barbarina), Peter
Köves (Antonio), 
Hungarian National Chorus, Nicolaus
Esterházy Sinfonia, David Aronson
(continuo)/Michael Halász Recorded
26th October to 4th novembre 2002 at
the Phoenix Studio, Budapest, Hungary
NAXOS 8.660102-04 [3CDs: 71:54 +
61:58 + 52:48] [CH]
This
is an unassailable bargain, and I wonder
how many of the more expensive alternatives
are really worth the extra money. ...
see Full
Review
