I can’t remember ever hearing this ensemble sound so light, almost insubstantial — and I mean that as a compliment. This music, which for all its sublimity can sometimes drag, didn’t rush — at least not after a bracingly brisk overture — but never lagged, the textures as airy as a June morning on Coney Island.
Bliss deftly wielded his silky tenor through Ferrando’s more touching scenes; faced with Fiordiligi’s initial refusal and Dorabella’s unfaithfulness, his cavatina “Tradito, schernito,” rang with a fine, crestfallen timbre. This seeming defeat tinged his later duet with Car, “Fra gli amplessi,” with a desperate passion that was hard to resist, as heard from the beckoning caress he placed on the phrase “In me alone you’ll find husband, lover, and more if you wish.”