Nozze di Figaro (Gardiner 2019)
Jul. 23rd, 2019 06:29 pmStill available here until 8 August and well well worth watching, in my opinion. You will be totally unsurprised to learn that I have a lot of ~Feelings~ about it! Mostly great feelings, though a couple of mixed feelings as well.
I just have to say, is there anything better than the last half of the second act of Figaro, as more people keep coming in and the plot keeps getting more and more muddled (but the music is still just as crystal)? NO. NO THERE IS NOT.
This is a production that is supposed to be set in the 1820's, right before the Second French Revolution (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
iberiandoctor, I thought of you), and so everyone is a little more modern than conventional productions, without losing that sense of "this happened a while ago, not in the present day." This had the effect of making all the characters a little more relatable and a little more relevant-seeming while still allowing the charm of a period piece (so it didn't feel regie at all).
Susanna is the heart and soul of this opera, and Joélle Harvey was absolutely wonderful. I am not sure I have ever watched a bad Susanna -- the music is so great, for one thing -- but Harvey I thought was quite excellent. Her "Deh vieni non tardar" was gorgeous, and not just gorgeous but I really understood for the first time that although she starts out singing it to tease Figaro, she ends up singing it to Figaro. Her singing and facial expression were just that good.
( In which I have ~feelings~ )
I just have to say, is there anything better than the last half of the second act of Figaro, as more people keep coming in and the plot keeps getting more and more muddled (but the music is still just as crystal)? NO. NO THERE IS NOT.
This is a production that is supposed to be set in the 1820's, right before the Second French Revolution (
iberiandoctor, I thought of you), and so everyone is a little more modern than conventional productions, without losing that sense of "this happened a while ago, not in the present day." This had the effect of making all the characters a little more relatable and a little more relevant-seeming while still allowing the charm of a period piece (so it didn't feel regie at all).Susanna is the heart and soul of this opera, and Joélle Harvey was absolutely wonderful. I am not sure I have ever watched a bad Susanna -- the music is so great, for one thing -- but Harvey I thought was quite excellent. Her "Deh vieni non tardar" was gorgeous, and not just gorgeous but I really understood for the first time that although she starts out singing it to tease Figaro, she ends up singing it to Figaro. Her singing and facial expression were just that good.
( In which I have ~feelings~ )
