I love Le Nozze Di Figaro and Mozart's music- which is wonderful in all his operas, even those with stories that are not quite as well matched- to death. I love Don Giovanni, Cosi Fan Tutte and Die Zauberflote just as equally and my favourite between these four is forever alternating. Le Nozze Di Figaro is very well served on DVD, my top favourites are between Ponnelle's film and the 1973 production with the 1993, 1994 and 2006(ROH) ones close behind.
This performance is very good indeed, and if someone were to ask me whether it was a worthy performance, I'd say almost certainly. It looks lovely, it is traditional and the colours are mellow. The cream, gold and amber interiors are wonderfully aristocratic, while the dark black and blue colouring in Act 4 suits the nightfall very well. The costumes are beautifully tailored and well suited to the period, the Countess' are particularly nice on the eyes. The stage direction is neither fancy or incongruous. It is intelligent and in keeping with the setting and mood of Le Nozze Di Figaro. Credit must be given in successfully managing to make the action in Act 4 clear, potentially that act can get very confused. There is evidence of humour and tension, though perhaps done a little too safe. For instance the comedy elements are funny but perhaps not broad enough, considering that the comedy is quite broad in the opera some may find that a let down.
Musically, it is equally fine. The orchestral playing is stylish and nuanced when needed, both Porgi D'Amor and Dovo Sono have real pathos and the ending is genuinely touching. The end of Act 3 has a lot of graceful style and there is evidence of foreboding in Act 2 as suggested in the music. The chorus don't have a lot to do but the sound and blending is very nicely done. Gerard Korsten's conducting is solid if not always exceptional. The musicianship is good, the phrasing fluid, the singers well accommodated and the attention to balances and textures impressive. At the same time however, it is a little lacking in clarity and assertiveness, especially in the Act 1 Count/Susanna/Basilio trio. Everything is well-intended, especially with trying to accommodate everybody, but I think at times with the slow tempos it does come at the expense of the story properly coming to life.
Vocally, it is just excellent. There are better Figaros for me than Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, namely Hermann Prey, but I still can't deny that he is perfect in the role. He is very dashing, and has a handsome bass-baritone voice that is intelligently and musically used as ever. As Figaro should be he is instantly appealing, with the right humour, charm and roguishness. Diana Damrau I've always enjoyed and she is fine also as Susanna. She has a somewhat richer voice than the chirpier and more soubrette soprano voices that are cast for the role(Reri Grist for the 1966 Salzburg performance comes to mind here), but due to its brightness and agility it is still very well suited for it. The fact that she clearly loves the music really shows in how she treats it also. And her Susanna is certainly one of the better acted ones on DVD, never too mature or bland.
Marcella Orsatti Talamanca's Countess, more youthful-looking here, I quite liked. She understandably is not in the same league as Te Kanawa or Janowitz, and she didn't need to be, but you do see that nobility and wistfulness which makes the Countess' two arias as moving as they are. What was interesting though was the sense of indignation that she had in her acting, that's a side that I don't think I have seen before, and I do think it worked. She has an impressive voice, not as beautiful or as silvery, but the vocal colours and phrasing are quite striking. Pietro Spagnoli is not the most aristocratic(Fischer-Dieskau) or brutish(Finley) of the Counts on DVD, which doesn't quite make the big confrontation between him and the Countess as tense as it could be, but it is solidly acted with some menace and at no point is the Count made to look like a buffoon.
In the role of Cherubino, Monica Bacelli's voice is strong and well-projected, if perhaps a little heavy and the pitch not always secure. She is certainly charming and impetuous, the character's conflicting feelings about his feelings about love in Non So Piu coming through perfectly, though Ewing and Von Stade convince me much more as a boy. Jeanette Fischer is great as Marcellina, as well as having one of the liveliest stage presences of any Marcellina I know of, she is scheming and funny with a voice appropriate for the role without it ever becoming unattractive.
The Bartolo of Maurizio Muraro is very amusing and resonantly sung, with his small pattering passage in La Vendetta very well managed. Gregory Bonfatti's Basilio fares similarly. His tenor voice is in no way inappropriate, slightly strained but hardly an ugly-sounding one. He is very oily and funny also if not as much as Heinz Zednik. Barbarina is a relatively small role, but it is one that Oriana Kurteshi characterises with simple charm and her singing is beguiling. I liked how Marcellina and Basilio's arias were included, there have been instances in performances of Le Nozze Di Figaro where they've been cut, though having them left out is not necessarily a liability either. Far worse cuts in productions of other operas have happened. All in all, a very good and well done performance on the whole. 8/10 Bethany Cox
This performance is very good indeed, and if someone were to ask me whether it was a worthy performance, I'd say almost certainly. It looks lovely, it is traditional and the colours are mellow. The cream, gold and amber interiors are wonderfully aristocratic, while the dark black and blue colouring in Act 4 suits the nightfall very well. The costumes are beautifully tailored and well suited to the period, the Countess' are particularly nice on the eyes. The stage direction is neither fancy or incongruous. It is intelligent and in keeping with the setting and mood of Le Nozze Di Figaro. Credit must be given in successfully managing to make the action in Act 4 clear, potentially that act can get very confused. There is evidence of humour and tension, though perhaps done a little too safe. For instance the comedy elements are funny but perhaps not broad enough, considering that the comedy is quite broad in the opera some may find that a let down.
Musically, it is equally fine. The orchestral playing is stylish and nuanced when needed, both Porgi D'Amor and Dovo Sono have real pathos and the ending is genuinely touching. The end of Act 3 has a lot of graceful style and there is evidence of foreboding in Act 2 as suggested in the music. The chorus don't have a lot to do but the sound and blending is very nicely done. Gerard Korsten's conducting is solid if not always exceptional. The musicianship is good, the phrasing fluid, the singers well accommodated and the attention to balances and textures impressive. At the same time however, it is a little lacking in clarity and assertiveness, especially in the Act 1 Count/Susanna/Basilio trio. Everything is well-intended, especially with trying to accommodate everybody, but I think at times with the slow tempos it does come at the expense of the story properly coming to life.
Vocally, it is just excellent. There are better Figaros for me than Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, namely Hermann Prey, but I still can't deny that he is perfect in the role. He is very dashing, and has a handsome bass-baritone voice that is intelligently and musically used as ever. As Figaro should be he is instantly appealing, with the right humour, charm and roguishness. Diana Damrau I've always enjoyed and she is fine also as Susanna. She has a somewhat richer voice than the chirpier and more soubrette soprano voices that are cast for the role(Reri Grist for the 1966 Salzburg performance comes to mind here), but due to its brightness and agility it is still very well suited for it. The fact that she clearly loves the music really shows in how she treats it also. And her Susanna is certainly one of the better acted ones on DVD, never too mature or bland.
Marcella Orsatti Talamanca's Countess, more youthful-looking here, I quite liked. She understandably is not in the same league as Te Kanawa or Janowitz, and she didn't need to be, but you do see that nobility and wistfulness which makes the Countess' two arias as moving as they are. What was interesting though was the sense of indignation that she had in her acting, that's a side that I don't think I have seen before, and I do think it worked. She has an impressive voice, not as beautiful or as silvery, but the vocal colours and phrasing are quite striking. Pietro Spagnoli is not the most aristocratic(Fischer-Dieskau) or brutish(Finley) of the Counts on DVD, which doesn't quite make the big confrontation between him and the Countess as tense as it could be, but it is solidly acted with some menace and at no point is the Count made to look like a buffoon.
In the role of Cherubino, Monica Bacelli's voice is strong and well-projected, if perhaps a little heavy and the pitch not always secure. She is certainly charming and impetuous, the character's conflicting feelings about his feelings about love in Non So Piu coming through perfectly, though Ewing and Von Stade convince me much more as a boy. Jeanette Fischer is great as Marcellina, as well as having one of the liveliest stage presences of any Marcellina I know of, she is scheming and funny with a voice appropriate for the role without it ever becoming unattractive.
The Bartolo of Maurizio Muraro is very amusing and resonantly sung, with his small pattering passage in La Vendetta very well managed. Gregory Bonfatti's Basilio fares similarly. His tenor voice is in no way inappropriate, slightly strained but hardly an ugly-sounding one. He is very oily and funny also if not as much as Heinz Zednik. Barbarina is a relatively small role, but it is one that Oriana Kurteshi characterises with simple charm and her singing is beguiling. I liked how Marcellina and Basilio's arias were included, there have been instances in performances of Le Nozze Di Figaro where they've been cut, though having them left out is not necessarily a liability either. Far worse cuts in productions of other operas have happened. All in all, a very good and well done performance on the whole. 8/10 Bethany Cox
