Katie Coventry / Recenzijas

Each time I see another production of The Marriage of Figaro I remember why it is done so often. Not only does it lend itself immensely well to scenic adaptation, the music and story are just so darn good. This one, a revival of Fiona Shaw’s 2011 staging for English National Opera, particularly brings out the hilarious elements of the opera. Jeremy Sams’ English translation works remarkably well, as usual. What a delight to have seen such strong ensemble casts at ENO this entire season. From Midsummer to Iolanthe and now The Marriage of Figaro, it is hard to find a weak link in any of the casting done in the Coliseum. I have been especially impressed with the ENO Harewood Artists this year, with Rhian Lois as a cunning Susanna and Katie Coventry as a captivating Cherubino. It was most heartwarming to see the relationship between Lois and Thomas Oliemans as Susanna and Figaro. Oliemans seemed to go for a more casual Figaro, not quite the charismatic showman that one sees in other productions (or in The Barber of Seville for that matter). His was an unobtrusive Figaro, more content to go along with the schemes of others than to make up his own. I did feel like during “Aprite un po’ quegli occhi” he didn’t actually believe that women were the devil - at the bottom of his heart he never really turned on Susanna. Although this may seem to make Figaro a weaker character, in a way it actually makes him stronger: his commitment to Susanna and unwillingness to lean towards misogyny updates Figaro out of the 18th century.

Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro has always been deemed by many to have the air of revolution about it on a class basis, but seeing the opera in light of the revelations of #MeToo revelations gives the piece new colour. Though the droit du seigneur is unmistakably of its time, one cannot help at times but to wince at the similarities between behaviour in the opera and reports that have emerged in recent months. Ashley Riches sang the Count and certainly looked the part, towering and smouldering above the rest of the cast, and while he didn’t always strike the kind of lecherous menace that would suit Shaw’s production, he carried off an air of thwarted bitterness extremely well. He has a handsome voice and sang with plenty of colour, his performance in the Act 2 trio particularly strong. Thomas Oliemans was a boisterous Figaro, immediately likeable and showing a clear knack for comic timing. His tone was a little dry at times, but it’s certainly a strident baritone and Oliemans gave “Se vuol ballare” such an edge that he could almost have been singing through gritted teeth. Rhian Lois was a sparky Susanna, but one craved a little more size to a voice which, though sweet, often seemed to be lost in ensemble moments. Katie Coventry’s sassy Cherubino was joyfully sung and raucously acted, full of youthful passion and mischief. Janis Kelly’s Marcellina swung with ease from a superb performance of vinegar and lemon in the first half to maternal sweetness in the second, and Keel Watson gave a suitably magisterial Dr Bartolo. Colin Judson made the most of the blind Don Basilio, the slightly sinister sniffing a good touch.

»Hervorragend besetzt war außerdem der Orest mit der prachtvollen Bassbaritonstimme von Derek Welton, übrigens dem designierten Wotan im – hoffentlich doch noch zu realisierenden – neuen ›Ring‹ an der Deutschen Oper Berlin.«

‘Welton takes the prize for the most pregnant diction of the evening, and together with a substantial and effortless bass-baritone, can claim an auspicious debut.’