Breathtaking mix makes for Barber who’s truly cut above
The Barber of Seville Theatre des Champs-Elysees (Festival Theatre, Edinburgh) Verdict: Classic comic opera ★★★★★
AT the start of any and every Edinburgh International Festival, everyone always has a particular performance to which they are especially looking forward.
There is also a special frisson attached to the first ‘big ticket’ production.
For many in the Festival Theatre audience for the first night of Rossini’s Barber of Seville, the two may have come together in a really quite breathtaking fashion.
Theatre des Champs-Elysees enjoys a high reputation, both at its home in Paris and internationally – and it certainly set the International Festival alight.
Rossini’s great masterpiece is now one of the most popular in the entire repertoire, rightly regarded as one of the finest examples of opera buffa ever created – but it was not ever thus.
In fact, its world premiere, at the Teatro Argentina in Rome on February 20, 1816, was an unmitigated disaster.
Giovanni Paisiello had already composed an opera in the same subject and the theatre was full of his supporters, who jeered, hissed and booed throughout.
One of the singers fell and sang on while blood streamed from his nose.
A cat ran on stage, refused to be coaxed off and was eventually picked up and flung into the wings.
But the second and subsequent performances were triumphant, sealing the lasting reputation of the piece.
Any production of this opera stands or falls on the performance of Figaro, the eponymous coiffeur of the title.
THIS production has been blessed by having French baritone Guillaume Andrieux in the role. Much more than a mere cutter of hair, he is the city’s ‘fixer’ supreme and the once and future valet of the Count of Almaviva.
The plot revolves around Figaro’s audacious schemes to allow the count to marry the fair Rosina, ward of the thoroughly nasty Dr Bartolo, who harbours unspeakable intentions towards her and, almost equally importantly, her substantial dowry.
Andrieux gives a madcap, livewire performance as the often manic Figaro – but never at the expense of the music. His is a controlled physicality that allows him to explore the richness of a very fine voice.
As Rosina, French mezzosoprano Catherine Trottmann, to any in the audience who may not have seen or heard her before, must have been a vocal and physical revelation. Seemingly little more than a slip of a thing, she looks more like a ballet dancer than an opera singer. But this is a tiny little girl with a very big voice.
It is wonderfully expressive too, as she moves, apparently seamlessly, from a coy, demure young ward to a bold, assertive woman just about able to give even Figaro a run for his (or perhaps someone else’s) money. Michele Angelini’s Count Almaviva is perhaps less visually engaging than either Andrieux’s Figaro or Miss Trottmann’s Rosina – but he certainly manages to hold his own vocally as the trio set about their plans.
Making up the central quartet of the opera is Peter Kalman as Bartolo. The Hungarian bassbaritone is deliciously wicked as a Victorian-style Sir Jasper type – straight from Central Casting, but none the worse for that.
The music was provided by the period instruments of Le Cercle de l’Harmonie under conductor Jeremie Rhorer – and it was an absolute treat.
Period they may have been, but they were played with real passion by obviously commit-
ted individuals who collectively made a superbly marshalled team.
If this continues, the orchestras are going to be a highlight of the operatic content of this year’s Festival.
But there’s more to a first-class production than the singing and playing – and the set designs for this one were simply superb. From the astonishing imagination of Laurent Pelly – who also designed the costumes and, indeed, directed the entire affair – came vast swirling rolls of music notation parchment.
This conjured up the dramatic notion that the entire opera was being played out from within the imagination and musical manuscripts of Rossini himself.
It was a truly stunning set, combining with the cast and players to produce a Barber that truly was a cut above.