Le Nozze di Figaro
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Arcola Theatre
Ensemble OrQuesta Company and HPO Ensemble
Part of the annual Grimeborn Opera Festival, this small scale version of Mozart’s 1786 masterpiece is fresh, compelling, theatrical and musical magic from beginning to end.
The production includes a seven-piece chamber orchestra playing Marcio da Silva’s re-orchestrated score which works perfectly. He gives flute parts to clarinets and strings operate as quartet with double bass and harpsichord, conducted by Kieran Staub. The players are part of Hastings Philharmonic which da Silva and his wife Helen May (Susanna in this production) run along with opera company, Ensemble OrQuesta.
I’m normally opposed to the superimposition of action on overtures but in this case it was a good idea to mime the back story, while the orchestra soared through all those familiar semi-quavers, although I’m not sure I would have grasped it fully, had I not known it already.
And so to da Silva who plays Figaro and is a remarkably musical polymath and strong actor. Figaro could have been written for him. He is assertive, loving, angry, astonished – and does it all to the manner born, his baritone voice by turns, silky and abrasive. His high notes resonate and his low ones are totally in character. I’ve seen him on the podium many times, even on one occasion playing guitar with his orchestra, but I had no idea he could also sing a three hour opera in Italian at this level. But from the moment he produces his tape measure in the first scene he is spellbinding. Moreover he has directed this show himself (assistant director, Jay Rockwell) and uses the square space (seating on three sides) imaginatively with some fresh physical theatre touches.
Helen May delights as Susanna too. She has a subtly expressive face and a soprano voice which soars in solo but blends beautifully. She conveys affection, exasperation and intelligence convincingly and there is an unusual depth of chemistry between her Susanna and this Figaro, possibly because they are a couple in real life.
The rest of the cast of the cast of ten are strong too – impeccable singing and fine acting, important in this space because we’re so close that that we can see every facial gesture. Anna-Luise Wagner as Cherubino, for example, conveys plenty of boyish, gleeful longing for the girls and when she sings her love song to the countess in Act 2 she feigns nervousness and sings the first verse hesitantly and out of tune – it’s funny, original and effective. There’s a lot of humour in this production. That wonderful “sua madre” moment, for example, when Figaro realises incredulously that Marcellina (Rosemary Carlton-Willis – good) is actually his mother is as hilarious as I’ve ever seen it.
At the performance I saw Hollie-Anne Clark was unwell so she acted the part of Countess Almaviva while Elinor Rolfe Johnson voiced it from the side. The singing was outstanding especially the exquisite “Dove sono” during which I had to swallow the lump in throat several times. Clark hadn’t, however, quite got the hang of how to make this work and should have been mouthing the words.
This show is a good example of how you can make a timeless piece glitter brightly for modern audiences, even on a low budget. It’s more or less modern dress (costumes by Gill Jenks) and the set comprises simply a small desk/dressing table, an office chair, a pot plant and a rail of costumes. Go for the singing, playing and drama. You won’t be disappointed.
