'The Marriage of Figaro' review — this ravishing revival of Mozart's opera lifts the spirits

Read our review of The Marriage of Figaro, now in performances at the Royal Opera House to 2 July.

Summary

• David McVicar’s production of The Marriage of Figaro returns to the Royal Opera House
• Mozart's opera has one of the greatest scores ever written
• Louise Alder and Alex Esposito are excellent as the no-nonsense Susanna and Figaro
• Svetlina Stoyanova impresses as the household's unlikely heartthrob

David McVicar’s production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro has been staged almost every other year since its premiere in 2006, and it’s easy to see why it’s become such a staple of the Royal Opera’s repertoire, with its ravishing good looks and air of effortless elegance. Each revival seems to have showcased a different cast, and the class of 2026, under the baton of Bertrand de Billy, offer a spirited rendering of one of the greatest scores ever written.

In the Count and Countess Almaviva’s castle near Seville, the Count’s valet Figaro and the Countess’s maid Susanna are preparing to wed, but there’s a sting in the tail. The Count expects to revive the (even then) outdated tradition of having his droit de seigneur from Susanna (perhaps the most #MeToo of employer/employee imbalances of power), but she isn’t having it. A day of mischief and bluffing ensues until all is right with the world again.

Designer Tanya McCallin’s crisp costuming suggests the 1820s or so and the airiness of the set design, with its high ceilings and elegant furnishings, keeps things light throughout. Paule Constable’s dappled lighting is a thing of beauty. Leah Hausman’s choreographed overture showcases the below-stairs characters going about their business (the shutters are opened and daylight streams in as the orchestra plays the first of the overture’s famous trills) with an air of excitement and affectionate teasing for the wedding day ahead.

The staging is so painterly, often using Susanna as the focal point. Susanna folding laundry is like a Vermeer; the mistress and her maid (in her wedding finery, in which they look more like peers) plotting together at the piano could be a ravishing society portrait; and the bride-to-be surrounded by village maidens offering flowers makes for a charming rustic scene that could be hung in the Wallace Collection.

Louise Alder, who has played Susanna in numerous productions, has a no-nonsense and seen-it-all air, matched with Alex Esposito as a similarly forthright Figaro. Their marriage ought to be a success and characterised by open communication once there’s no more need for subterfuge.

Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha is a truly long-suffering Countess who is worn down by her husband’s infidelity and lacking in confidence until she gets the upper hand at the end. Andrey Zhilikhovsky’s handsome Count doesn’t have the usual buffoonish edge; instead he plays it straight as a rake with an ingrained sense of entitlement. And Svetlina Stoyanova’s Cherubino, the household’s unlikely heartthrob, received one of the biggest ovations of the evening with her plaintive “Voi Che Sapete”.

Possibly it’s sacrilegious to suggest the piece has got a few longueurs (especially the business as to Susanna’s whereabouts in the Countess’s chamber) and there are stretches in which it is possible to feel the three-and-a-half hour running time. A version that pushes the piece’s dark undertones further would be fitting for the times in which we live. Nevertheless, the sheer beauty of McVicar’s production makes it a very worthy candidate for continuing revivals, and that score never fails to lift the spirits.

The Marriage of Figaro is at the Royal Opera House to 2 July. Book The Marriage of Figaro tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: The Marriage of Figaro (Photos by Mihaela Bodlovic)