AN AMERICAN IN PARIS: LE NOZZE DI FIGARO AT THE THÉÂTRE DES CHAMPS-ELYSÉES

Insomnia has once again struck and rather than fighting it counting sheep, I visited my best friend YouTube, and watched one of the finest performances of Le Nozze d i Figaro in a life filled with Figaros.  Filmed in December 2019 at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées it was streamed only a single night on Musique France, and not seen again until its YouTube premiere yesterday evening. I'm over-the-moon that it's here now.

The production is about as close to perfection as a Figaro gets, making it hard to believe this is operatic debut of American filmmaker James Gray (Ad Astra, The Immigrant, The Yards). It may be his first, but Gray seems to know . . . and gets the gist of this opera better than fully half the directors who specialize in this art form. While I am a big regie fan, and most of the best Figaros I've seen the last few decades have veered (wildly) from Da Ponte's mise-en-scène, Gray created an opposite kind of controversy in Paris, by opting for a production that appears to have time traveled to us directly from its 1786 premiere at Burgtheater. The sets are gorgeously in a Spanish Baroque style, reminding us of a Spain very different from the way we seldom remember.  

Christian Lacroix has created costumes which are character driven, and with everyone is given an individual look.  On top of that, these costumes are frequently breathtaking. Every detail, ribbon, lace and boot feels to be stamped with authenticity. Even Figaro's long ponytail is festooned with a crown of flowers woven through it and, odd as it may first appear, feels absolutely right. . 

Gray is clearly an artist to be reckoned with, but also a detail technician and I cannot ever recall a Figaro with this much to look at. This includes an almost perpetual movement, as this show never stops moving, its characters' arms gesturing, heads turning, bodies twisting, climbing stairs, hiding in chairs, stealing smooches, posing and posturing  there is something to see with every note.  Nonetheless, never - not once does this choreographed movement detract from Mozart and Da Ponte's masterpiece, and in fact, it enhances it all with a youthful energy seldom encountered in bigger houses with grander casts. To that end, Gray worked closely with choreographer Glysleïn Lefever and the result is utterly magical.  

While I'm not one who needs lookers to convince me of a character (after all, it's called acting and singing innit?) we are nonetheless blessed with as attractive a cast as one could hope for..  Anna Aglatova's Susanna looks for the world like she could be the twenty-something love child of Cecilia Bartoli and Carol Vaness. Her soprano is an oddly perfect combination both rich, and bright, with an almost mezzo sounding quality, adding tons of vocal character to her spicy, lovely, and witty Susanna. I want to see and hear a lot more. 

I'm convinced the darkly handsome, towering, dominating Figaro, Robert Gleadow, was a dancer in a previous life . . . or maybe as a side hustle in this one. The guy moves with absolute athletic alacrity - limbs, hands, face, torso . . . all with an incredibly fluidity. Nonstop. Add to that, a voice that is, in a word, gorgeous; a rich, yet bright timbre, with an ease of diction allowing the wordy text to spill and flow endlessly - like the music it is.  I've heard Gleadow before and liked him well enough, but this Figaro - this is something special.  Easily a career high at this point. 

Whenever I'm at the opera, I try never to think of other singers I've previously heard in those roles, but  here I couldn't stop thinking of others - not in comparison but names just began flashing through my mind. I had to stop and ask myself:  What is it with Canada and  wonderful baritones? Gleadow joins a small bass-baritonal army of superb Canadians, standing alongside Gerald Finley, Philippe Sly, Joshua Hopkins, Elliot Madore,Jean-François LaPointe, Étienne Depuis, et al.

Eléonore Pancrazi is marvelously androgynous in a way that never fully convinces me she is not quite a boy, but also never quite a girl. Indeed, when she's Cherubino there is an inescapable femininity to all she does, but when transformed into a "girl" there is a youthful, clumsy masculinity that is absolutely endearing. The voice sounds more soprano than mezzo, indeed, lighter and higher in placement than our Susanna. It's a lot of fun. 

Stéphane Degout is one of the two big names in this cast, and while I've always had a soft spot for this guy, it almost feels as if this younger, lesser known cast has inspired something extra in him and he takes his already very high game up a notch, making his Conte even funnier, more futile and a bit fussier, more deceptive. While he seems a bit less outwardly cruel than most Counts, he's still darker in nature -  more manipulative . . . more vain, and therefore, more mysteriously intimidating. It's a nice spin on a familiar character. 

The Countess of Vannina Santoni is, at all times, breathtakingly beautiful. I always feel Mozart was cruel to the Countess from the get go. Porgi Amor is a lovely aria, but there is no warm up, there is no flash or set up . . .  it 's literally: Curtain up. Sing,"  and it's always difficult to judge any soprano in the role until a bit later in the act. Santoni sings it beautifully, and looks like a broken angel. That's as good a start as you get in this role. She really comes into her own only minutes down the pike and the interplay with Cherubino is erotically and romantically charged in an absolutely delicious way. Dove Sono is taken a bit slower than I like,.and early on felt like it was going to lose its shape for lack of propulsion. I was wrong and worried needlessly, as a minute into it Santoni was floating out magic. Rhorer cushions the singer in a way that suspends time, allowing Santoni's voice to ride on top and the effect is lovely. Additionally, that pacing lifts the rondo-like finale into something that feels faster than it actually is . . . free and exciting. 

The rest of the cast is equal to the challenges set by the leads above, and what an absolute delight to have the luxury casting of Jennifer Larmore as Marcellina, looking and sounding so terrific and with good comic chops to boot.  Carlo Lepore's Bartolo is her perfect match. 

Santo Loquasto's set and props are are stunning, the rooms festooned with flowers and ribbons tea pots, lamps and chandeliers, desks . . . it should be a clutter with all of that, but  somehow there is always a feeling of space - even on the tiny stage of this legendary theatre.

Since his Don Giovanni for the 2017  Aix-en-Provence Festival, Jérémie Rhorer and his ensemble, Le Cercle de l'Harmonie, have become my dream team for the music of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, et al.  The care he lavishes on this Figaro is extraordinary, making every moment exquisitely beautiful. In his reading there is humor, dancing, heartache, anger, deception . . . all that Mozart and Da Ponte put into one of THE most perfect of operas. I also have to state a preference for his choice of using fortepiano instead of the usual harpsichord, which adds immeasurably to the color and texture of the entire show.  

While the subtitles are embedded En français (with an Italian option) and no English, if you love Mozart . . . and Figaro in particular, this is one you should add to your list. Immediately. I'm not kidding around here.