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COC: Marriage of Figaro: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart/Lorenzo Da Ponte; Johannes Debus (Conductor). Claus Guth (Director). Runs until Feb. 27 at the Four Seasons Centre; coc.ca
It’s becoming a habit, the pairing of Wagner and Mozart every winter at the Canadian Opera Company. Last season it was Die Walkure with Don Giovanni, and the recently announced 2016-17 season pairs Götterdammerung with The Magic Flute. Currently the COC is presenting two marathons – Siegfried and Marriage of Figaro, both iconic works of the standard repertoire.
Siegfried clocked in at 5 hours on opening night. Last evening’s Figaro was 3 hours 45 minutes when all was said and done. It went over the estimated three and a half hours because of the special announcement by Alexander Neef. When he appeared in front of the curtain, I thought, “oh no!” Thank goodness the first thing he said to the audience was: “Don’t worry, the singers are fine!” He proceeded to announce an outreach initiative by the Company to the Syrian refugees in partnership with government and private sources. No details at this point but more information will be forthcoming. Several dignitaries were present in the opera house, including Adrienne Clarkson and John Ralston Saul, both opera lovers and regulars at the COC. Given that Neef said to the audience, I for one was deeply moved and felt proud to be Canadian. The singing of ‘O Canada’ that followed took on a special meaning for every one of us.
A question in my mind last evening was – could the Claus Guth production garner the same accolades as Francois Girard’s Siegfried? This Salzburg production of Nozze opened to rather mixed reviews in 2006, and it was replaced by a new one there last summer, a production with a very different aesthetic. I recall watching the DVD from 2006 some years ago, and recently re-watched it in anticipation of the COC run.
Last month I attended a working rehearsal and the final dress before last evening’s premiere. I’m admittedly a bit of a traditionalist at heart, but I do feel a fresh take on the standard repertoire is often a welcome change. To me, the ideal update illuminates the music and the text in a novel way. And it shouldn’t distort the spirit of the original. Time and place shifting doesn’t bother me if it makes sense. Additions or subtractions of music and characters can be more problematic, as is the altering of interrelationships of the characters. But when I go to the opera house, I make a conscious effort of keeping an open mind.
My thoughts on the Guth staging have evolved in the course of the last few weeks. Watching the DVD is one thing, but experiencing it in the theatre has given me that bit of extra bit of perspective on Guth’s vision. Mozart’s opera buffa has a decidedly dark feel to be sure, serving as a social and political commentary in the original Beaumarchais play. The Da Ponte libretto has removed much of the politics, leaving more or less intact the social and gender issues, a sort of 18th century Upstairs Downstairs.
Guth chooses to downplay issues of class. There’s nothing servant-like with this Figaro in his smart white shirt and snugly tailored suit – he wouldn’t look out of place in Mad Men! In stead of class, Guth chooses sex as the motivating force – it’s the eternal tug-of-war between “reason” and “desire” as the core of the drama, an interesting enough and totally legitimate take on the human condition. However, things become a bit awkward when Guth chooses to paint all with the same brush.
The obvious suspects are Cherubino, a randy young lad, and the lascivious Count, determined to “exercise his feudal privileges.” More problematic is the portrayal of the Countess as all but ready to jump into bed and show the Page a thing or two, never mind there’s not a stick of furniture in this production! Equally uncomfortable is having a Susanna, who enjoys the Count’s advances. Honestly, there aren’t too many lovable characters in this staging. To make it more convincing, Guth introduces a silent character, the Angel, who controls the thoughts and actions of each character, with reason giving way to desire.
In keeping with Guth’s idiosyncratic vision, the set design could have come straight out of an Ingmar Bergman movie, with no shortage of symbolism. Given everyone is in modern dress, it makes Cherubino’s excitement over the Countess’s ribbon just a bit silly, ditto Barbarina’s lament over the lost pin. I have to say setting all the action in a stairwell is a bit of a head-scratcher. It makes mince meat out of Figaro’s opening lines in Act One Scene One.
I dare say this set design with its flights of stairs is only for the most sure-footed of singers with strong knees! Russell Braun (Count) has my full admiration for gamely singing his difficult aria with a man on his back. Not surprisingly, no sign of a garden in Act Four. However, I do find the Finale quite interesting, with everyone rejecting Desire (the Angel) in favour of Reason, except for poor, love-sick, starry-eyed Cherubino.
At the end of the day, any Regieoper treatment makes sense only to those audience members willing to forgo the literal and embrace the imaginative. Judging by the warm reception at the end, it went over better than one would have expected, given the conservative nature of the Toronto opera fans.
Without question, musically this Nozze is superb in every way, particularly its exceptional cast led by Austrian Josef Wagner in the title role. His virile yet refined bass-baritone sounded wonderful, and his engaging persona a pleasure, despite a staging where his character is somewhat over-shadowed by the Count, sung by Canadian baritone Russell Braun. In robust voice, Braun typically gave his all, perhaps a bit over the top dramatically. His ‘Hai gia vinta la causa’, sung with the Angel on his back, received the biggest ovation of the evening.
Canadian soprano Erin Wall offered silvery tone and plenty of chiaroscuro, with two lovely piano high C’s. Her unfailing sense of pitch in ‘Porgi amor’ was impressive. Jane Archibald, a specialist in stratospheric coloratura roles, was a lovely Susanna, her ‘Deh vieni’ exquisitely sung.
A real discovery for me was American mezzo Emily Fons as the most believable – and gorgeously sung – Cherubino I’ve heard in many years. Helene Schneiderman acted up a storm as a vivid Marcellina, but sadly her Act Four aria was cut. She was partnered by the sonorous bass of Robert Pomakov as an appropriately crusty-looking Bartolo. Former Ensemble Studio soprano Sasha Djihanian brought an unusually dark timbre to Barbarina, singing a very lovely ‘L’ho perduta.’ The cameo roles of Don Basilio (Michael Colvin), Don Curzio (Jean-Philippe Fortier-Lazure) and Antonio (Doug MacNaughton) were all strongly taken.
Despite the current steady diet of Siegfried, there was no residual heaviness in the orchestra on opening night. Kudos to COC Music Director Johannes Debus for doing the super-human double duty as conductor of both the Wagner and Mozart. He kept his Mozart light, giving an idiomatic reading of the score.
It was a bit odd to have a modern piano as the continuo, but given the staging, it hardly matters. A hand injury to pianist Michael Shannon meant he was replaced by COC Assistant Conductor Jordan de Souza, who will be conducting two performances later in the run.
All in all, an interesting twist to this beloved Mozart and an unusual evening at the opera.
Ten more performances Feb. 7 to 27, with a special Ensemble Studio performance on Feb. 22. www.coc.ca
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- SCRUTINY | Opera Atelier’s All Is Love Makes Triumphal Return - April 15, 2024
- SCRUTINY | From The Heart: Ema Nikolovska And Charles Richard-Hamelin Offer Unique Program At Koerner Hall - March 26, 2024
- SCRUTINY | The Glenn Gould School Spring Opera Presents A Superb Dialogues Des Carmélites - March 22, 2024
