This performance is of a 2006 revival of Giorgio Strehler’s 1980 production of Le nozze di Figaro, with Ezio Frigerio’s sets and Franca Squarciapino’s costumes. It has been restaged by Marina Bianchi, but Strehler’s humanistic, loving approach remains intact. Count and Countess genuinely love one-another, but the former is having issues flung at him and the latter is at some sort of crossroads that requires a re-evaluation of the relationship. He is so ashamed during his last-act apology that he can barely look at her; he finally realizes that he is a mature man who has been acting like a fool.
Figaro is filled with pride, a man smart enough to keep his eyes open wide enough to make certain he knows what’s going on around him at all times. And Cherubino is so insecure that at times he seems on the verge of fainting. Nothing here is exaggerated for effect; it’s a pleasure. Ezio Frigerio’s sets give us a grand space with little décor; is it hard times, or have they stopped caring?
The singing is mostly quite fine. Diana Damrau’s Susanna, active and attractive, invariably in charge, quick to react, is beautifully sung, taking “Deh vieni…” very slowly and with great feeling. And her second-act amusement/horror easily defines the situation. Ildebrando D’Arcangelo’s dark sound adds to his non-buffoonish interpretation. Pietro Spagnoli’s lightish baritone has just the right aristocratic edge, but Marcella Orsatti Talamanca’s Countess lacks vocal stature. Monica Bacelli’s Cherubino occasionally veers from pitch but convinces nonetheless, and the others are all top notch.
Gerard Korsten’s leadership could use a Vitamin B-12 shot; he is more relaxed than the production, the singers, or, in fact, the opera. The Scala forces, trained by Riccardo Muti, play very well. This is not a first choice–that would have to be Pappano’s (Opus Arte) from Covent Garden or René Jacobs’ on Bel Air–but it’s an enjoyable, thoroughly honest, un-idiosyncratic show.
