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A Yawn For Yannick’s Figaro

Robert Levine

Artistic Quality:

Sound Quality:

I’ve so far been a fan of Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s DG Mozart cycle, in particular the Don Giovanni (see reviews archive). They all share similarities: fleet tempos, prominent , imaginative continuo that stops short of René Jacobs’ tendency to give cello and fortepiano equal footing with the soloists, fine ensemble, mostly excellent youngish singers, and a propulsion that disallows any moments of tedium. But I find this performance cold.

The Chamber Orchestra of Europe is marvelous—the strings silky but capable of sharp-edged attacks, the winds alternately spicy and sweet, and their ensemble work impeccable, particularly as this recording was taken from a live performance in Baden-Baden on July 20, 2015 (with some likely patch-up sessions). But it’s a non-staged festival performance and it sounds like it: Everything is played perfectly, with changes in dynamics sharp as a tack. It’s almost Swiss-clockish in its alertness; it lacks spontaneity.

Perhaps I’m being fussy because there are 85 other recordings of Figaro available and at least 10 of them are better, but there you have it. The test is always the amazing second-act finale, one of the funniest and most perfectly constructed 20 minutes in all of music, with mood changes every couple of minutes when another character is introduced or an event turns. Here it chugs along well—like, well, a Swiss clock. Accurate and without personality.

The singing is mostly excellent, but shares—and adds to—the lack of profile I find from Nézet-Séguin’s leadership. Christiane Karg’s Susanna is almost perfectly sung, save for a bit of gravel on low notes, but the character’s a brilliant minx and we don’t get that here. Her “Deh vieni…” is generic in the extreme. Furthermore, you notice from the opera’s opening scene that she and Luca Pisaroni as Figaro have no zip, no real sense of banter, no chemistry. And Pisaroni, for all his fabulous singing—and it is universally great—gives us a bland “Non piu andrai”, one both he and Nézet-Séguin should be ashamed of. Perhaps they’re going for a truly kind and gentle Figaro, with no edge, but that ain’t Figaro.

Sonya Yoncheva is a lustrous-sounding Countess, world-weary and tonally spot-on in her first aria, but elsewhere bland, making us wonder if her opening world-weariness isn’t simply a non-interpretation. Thomas Hampson’s Count suffers from something very different—of all the major characters he’s the only one who plays the part to a T, searching for nuances—but his voice is now very dry, frightfully so at the bottom of his range. I wish I liked Angela Brower’s Cherubino more; she does nothing wrong and has an appealingly light mezzo-soprano voice, but once heard, she’s forgotten.

Surprise casting includes Anne Sofie von Otter’s vaguely decrepit-sounding but characterful Marzellina and Rolando Villazon’s Basilio, gloriously sung and making us realize that this character’s part in ensembles actually matters. He is, after all, the one who sings “cosi fan tutte le belle”. Maurizio Muraro is a boring Bartolo; Jean-Paul Fouchécourt is a colorful Don Curzio and Regula Mühlemann a charming Barbarina.

I think Maestro Nézet-Séguin was probably aiming for a kinder, sweeter Figaro. I guess he got one. It’s a pity that the opera itself has more dimensions than that and that this performance is unmemorable.

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Recording Details:

Reference Recording: Jacobs (HM); Giulini (EMI)

    Soloists: Christiane Karg, Sonya Yoncheva (soprano); Luca Pisaroni, Thomas Hampson, Maurizio Muraro (bass-baritone); Angela Brower, Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano); Rolando Villazon (tenor)

    Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Yannick Nézet-Séguin

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