Opera / The Marriage of Figaro / The Lowry
‘IN my opinion, each number in Figaro is a miracle. It is totally beyond me how anyone could create anything so perfect. Nothing like it was ever done again, not even by Beethoven.”
That was the verdict of Johannes Brahms. Since its first performance 234 years ago, Mozart’s masterpiece has become a staple for opera companies around the world – with motifs instantly recognisable to audiences.
The irrepressible servant Figaro, his virtuous beloved Susanna, and the dastardly Count Almaviva trace their origins to an 18th Century play with an incendiary critique of the ruling class and their abuse of power.
But thanks to Mozart’s collaboration with librettist and disgraced Catholic priest Lorenzo da Ponte (once accused of ‘organising the entertainment in a brothel’) the plot was defanged of its original political slant.
Instead the tale of how an aristocrat tries – and fails – to apply a feudal right to sleep with women on his estate on their wedding night in transported into a sort of Carry On Downton Abbey, lurching between moments of bedroom farce and lament on the gulf between the sexes.
This battle between fidelity and desire unfolds within the setting of a ramshackle country mansion, managing to retain some grandeur despite peeling wallpaper.
There are lots of fine detail in the scenery and props, from the drapecovered furniture to the cleverly designed doorways, staircases and walls that create a moving jigsaw puzzle of sets.
The excellent Opera North orchestra are deftly led through Mozart’s buoyant score by conductor James Henry. Only once or twice does a swelling crescendo threaten to overpower performers on stage.
Performances by all the main cast are faultless. Phillip
Rhodes gives a muscular performance as Figaro, Fflur Wyn as Susanna switches effortlessly between humour and high emotion, and the wronged Countess (Maire Flavin) brings warmth to what could otherwise be a rather two-dimensional character with a couple of outstanding arias.
But certainly the most enjoyable moments come from Dutch singer Quirijn de Lang, who brings an air of mincing menace to the Count, and Heather Lowe, who joyfully languishes the hormone-crazed pageboy Cherubino.
Sung in English and replete with moments of bawdy, physical comedy, this is a crowd-pleasing production (including the first time I’ve heard anyone singing opera in a broad Yorkshire accent) - but belies Mozart’s musical mastery, including the staggering seven-part harmonies which end Act Two.
While there were a handful of empty seats at this performance at the Lowry theatre (coronavirus concerns perhaps keeping a few people at home), the applause from the audience was heart-felt.
The Leeds-based Opera North have revived this production – first performed five years ago – as part of a UK tour which will also see them take on a brand new ‘Broadway opera’ Street Scene and a production of Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw.
Yakub Qureshi
The performances will run until tomorrow. thelowry.com