FIGARO’S WEDDING • OPÉRA GARNIER, PARIS
★★★★☆☆
Photo: Franck Ferville
REVIEW: THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO PARIS – THE SOME REVOLUTION LIVE
BOOM! Netia Jones breaks the mold with a Marriage of Figaro that feels like a live-streamed revolution in the middle of Paris’ most iconic opera house.
An insistent conceptual idea – brilliantly executed – makes Figaro a thought-provoking and entertaining experience at the Opéra Garnier, despite a cast of singers who at times seem a little off balance in some of Mozart’s most beautiful arias.
The British director, who is also a renowned designer and video artist, has refined The Marriage of Figaro into a codified social media narrative with a beating for caricatured offenders.
Photo: Franck Ferville
With an intelligent meta-twist, the action is moved to the opera house itself, where Count Almaviva is now the theater director and begins by striding across the stage to slap one of the attractive ballerinas on the backside.
From here, the original plot unfolds backstage, where the house’s hierarchies mirror the classic upstairs/downstairs relationship that drives Mozart/Da Ponte’s Figaro.
Social media had not been invented when the opera was created – back then, it was all about exposing the unreasonable social structure. Napoleon allegedly said that The Marriage of Figaro, based on Beaumarchais’ satirical novel, is “the revolution in action.”
The iconic opera house with its fabulous staircase foyer, opulent chandeliers, and gold mirrors is used as a microcosm where the gender issues of the time—sexual harassment and abuse of power—are examined.
Photo: Franck Ferville
The ‘investigation’ takes place in a modern costume universe with all the contemporary references: cell phones, laptops, and backstage chaos. We investigate rehearsal rooms and dressing rooms, where both the Count and Don Basilio are busy with the ladies. Figaro is a theater hairdresser with a nod to The Barber of Seville, Susanna is a wardrobe attendant, and all the characters are elegantly tailored into this well-conceived opera house context.
Photo: Franck Ferville
The set design is beautifully executed – especially the gigantic costume department with staircases and clothes racks on several floors, before it all transforms into a busy rehearsal room, where the ballet school’s dancers add some utterly captivating ballet scenes to the opera.
The director’s point is not unfounded, but some reviewers have criticized the production for being a one-sided feminist interpretation that lacks too much of the humor that is an important part of the work’s DNA. On the other hand, 1700th-century comedy is often so dusty that one could use a breath of fresh air.
Artistic collaboration often rests on unequal relationships, where offensive, sexist behavior towards singers and dancers perfectly mirrors Count Almaviva’s relationship with his employees—including Figaro and Susanna.
Photo: Franck Ferville
The characters in the plot, their vulgar desires and creepy lusts, which are usually ridiculed with gentle comedy, are here subjected to aggressive, feminist condemnation. In the grand reconciliation sextet at the end – one of the opera’s most moving scenes – the count is usually forgiven by his wife. But not here. The director has canceled the reconciliation, and the count is left alone as a broken man, even though the music emphatically indicates a new beginning and compassion, as noted by international reviewers.
Musically, the impression is pleasant without being flashy. As Susanna, French coloratura soprano and audience darling Sabine Devieilhe is supported by a loyal home crowd. Figaro is sung with great energy by Canadian baritone Gordon Bintner, and German Christian Gerhaher scores sympathy as the count. As the Countess, Hanna-Elisabeth Müller underdelivers in this Sunday matinee in the Dove sono aria, which is otherwise Mozart at his very best. The orchestra? Even. The overture? Not quite in top gear.
Despite the criticism, this is a recommendable production that successfully updates a classic and offers both humor and serious social commentary. It is conceptual art with attitude – and it works.
Four stars from GOT TO SEE THIS
