First seen 18 years ago, David McVicar's Royal Opera staging of "The Marriage of Figaro" is back for its 11th revival. The show "still gets plenty of laughs", said Richard Morrison in The Times, which is "far from guaranteed" in modern productions of "Mozart's greatest comedy".
The "dense, swiftly moving plot is notoriously difficult to articulate", said George Hall in The Stage, yet McVicar's revival remains "marvellously lucid and sure-footed". Set in a château in 1830 on the eve of France's second revolution, Tanya McCallin's sets and costumes are a "triumph" and provide a "handsome visual context" for the show.
Julia Jones has been brought back to conduct with "exemplary results", making Mozart's score "zing along". A "true ensemble show" with "no weak links", there are several stand-outs: mezzo Ginger Costa-Jackson brings the "awkward, boy-obsessed" Cherubino to life and his two arias are among the high points of the evening.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It's a "lively" revival of Figaro, added Nicholas Kenyon in The Telegraph, and McVicar "fills Mozart's score with buzzing action". The artful sets slide "seamlessly" between acts, "atmospherically" lit by Paule Constable.
But while Jones brings "fierce energy and drive" to the production, she could "on occasion hold back more": "Dove Sono" was "propelled urgently forward" and felt "fractionally too fast", and at times the orchestra is "too prominent, sometimes obscuring the voices".
The orchestra was playing "louder than I have heard Mozart played in an opera house", agreed Richard Morrison in The Times. Thankfully Jones "turns down the volume" for the Countess and Susanna's "big numbers": both are "ravishing".
-
6 homes for entertainingFeature Featuring a heated greenhouse in Pennsylvania and a glamorous oasis in California
-
Obesity drugs: Will Trump’s plan lower costs?Feature Even $149 a month, the advertised price for a starting dose of a still-in-development GLP-1 pill on TrumpRx, will be too big a burden for the many Americans ‘struggling to afford groceries’
-
The ‘Kavanaugh stop’Feature Activists say a Supreme Court ruling has given federal agents a green light to racially profile Latinos
-
The 8 greatest heist movies of all timethe week recommends True stories, social commentary and pure escapism highlight these great robbery movies
-
Margaret Atwood’s memoir, intergenerational trauma and the fight to make spousal rape a crime: Welcome to November booksThe Week Recommends This month's new releases include ‘Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts’ by Margaret Atwood, ‘Cursed Daughters’ by Oyinkan Braithwaite and 'Without Consent' by Sarah Weinman
-
5 ghost towns worth haunting on your next road tripEnjoy a glimpse of the past
-
Glinda vs. Elphaba, Jennifer Lawrence vs. postpartum depression and wilderness vs. progress in November moviesthe week recommends This month’s new releases include ‘Wicked: For Good,’ ‘Die My Love’ and ‘Train Dreams’
-
10 great advent calendars for everyone (including the dog)The Week Recommends Countdown with cocktails, jams and Legos
-
Gen Z in Los Angeles, the end of ‘Stranger Things’ and a new mystery from the creator of ‘Breaking Bad’ in November TVthe week recommends This month's new television releases include ‘I Love L.A.,’ ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Pluribus’
-
The 5 best nuclear war movies of all timeThe Week Recommends ‘A House of Dynamite’ reanimates a dormant cinematic genre for our new age of atomic insecurity
-
Dead Man Walking: searing contemporary opera is a ‘triumph’The Week Recommends Death row drama ‘deals with the very essence of morality, judgement and conscience’
