Glyndebourne Tour 2022 - The Marriage of Figaro

Five years ago, the BBC Music Magazine polled 172 of the world's leading opera singers and asked them to nominate the greatest opera ever written. Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro' received more than double the number of votes than the runner-up, which was Puccini's 'La Boheme'.
 
This year's Glyndebourne Tour visit to Norwich Theatre Royal has the company performing both these works, and provided for me an opportunity to enjoy live, for the first time, 'The Marriage of Figaro', something that a certain lager company could, quite rightly, describe as 'probably the best opera in the world'.
 
It is an opera that caused a certain amount of controversy when first performed in Vienna in 1786. Based on a play by Pierre Beaumarchais that was, itself, banned in 1778 because of its savage satirical swipe at the French class system, the opera was written with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte in just six weeks, and had its setting relocated to Seville in Spain. The Glyndebourne version is a revival of Michael Grandage's 2012 production that transplanted the action to the dying days of Franco's regime in the late 1960's, a recognition perhaps that, though politics and attitudes may change, basic human behaviours do not always update as readily.
 
With a running time of almost three and a half hours, and the action spread over four acts with just one 20 minute interval between the second and third acts, this is an opera that really needs to engage with its audience from the off, and this version certainly achieves that. I was totally enthralled from start to finish, wrapped up in the marriage plans of our hero Figaro (Alexander Miminoshvili) and his bride-to-be Susanna (Soraya Mafi), the lecherous behaviour of Count Almaviva (George Humphreys) and the pain of the hapless Countess (Nardus Williams). The antics of amorously obsessed Cherubino provide comedic levity to the plot, and this part is played beautifully, just as tradition dictates, by Swedish mezzo-soprano Ida Ränzlöv. The Count's housekeeper Marcellina (Madeleine Shaw) and her former employer Dr Bartolo (Henry Waddington) provide the exact amount of scheming malevolence without transgressing into the realms of pantomime villainry. And the whole cast and orchestra are under the attentive eyes and ears of conductor Stephanie Childress.
 
My only one reservation about this version revolves around the relationship between the stage sets and the costumes. The rooms and the gardens of Count Almaviva's Sevillian castle are majestic and imposing, and resplendent in the Moorish design and detail. However, the 1960's style costumes, by comparison, somehow fail to compete with the impact of the sets, and do not transport me to the flower-powered, Mary Quant inspired vibe that should be challenging the swansong of General Franco's rule. As my colleague pointed out, perhaps a few lava-lamps could have made all the difference in augmenting the period bamboo furnishings.
 
If you harbour any linguistic reservations about following an Italian libretto of a swinging sixties opera set in Spain, then fear not. The supra-titles are always there to help you out, even if the translations sometimes appear a tad on the 'groovy' side of contemporary.
 
I love Glyndebourne, and to visit their permanent home in Sussex remains high on my bucket list. However, the opportunity to see their touring productions in Norwich is always a treat, and one that must not be taken for granted. Touring opera is expensive to deliver, and relies on all types of sponsorship and support. Thank you, once again, to Norwich Theatre Royal and to everyone at Glyndebourne for making it happen.