With a turn of the rotating stage, though, we were thrown into mosaic tiles with speculative furniture that evoked more of the Spanish theme. The opening sequence as the scrim raised, with house staff lining up to greet a sparkling vintage car, bespoke of a Downton Abbey-style country estate.
The program notes claim this production is either set in “early-1970s Morocco, or perhaps a Moroccan/Moorish-inspired country estate in Spain,” and this uncertainty is part of a much larger problem of overall visual coherency. Many productions have done this well – Peter Sellars’ Trump Tower from 1988 comes immediately to mind, as well as the elegant upstairs-downstairs Figaro at the Salzburg Festival directed by Sven-Eric Bechtolf. In this production, Houston Grand Opera just has the facts of Figaro on its side.Ī co-production of HGO and Glyndebourne Festival Opera, this version of Figaro tries to re-imagine Mozart in more contemporary terms. These are facts that are true of every production, but the essence that makes the opera great – hilarity intricately staged by comic artists who also sing some of Mozart’s most stunning arias effortlessly – is never a given. It has four acts, and it’s one of three renowned operas Mozart collaborated on with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte.
Ian Rutherford directs the celebrated production’s revival, with HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers conducting.Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro is an opera buffa that premiered in 1786. Renowned bass-baritone Adam Plachetka portrays the Count, with beloved soprano Nicole Heaston, an HGO Studio alumna and company favorite, as his wife. The role of Susanna is performed by soprano Elena Villalón in her first return to the company after completing her training with the HGO Studio. Its large cast is led by bass Nahuel Di Pierro as the titular Figaro, a working-class man set to marry the beautiful Susanna despite the meddling of their employer, a married Count who would rather have the beauty for himself. Tony Award-winning director Michael Grandage’s production of the boisterous rom-com, first staged by HGO in 2016, re-sets the class-conscious comedy in late ‘60s Francoist Spain.įull of bright colors and costumes evoking the Moroccan influence on Muslim Spain, the vibrant production synthesizes transcendent music and lively performances into an unforgettable evening at the opera.
Few operas have as much comedic energy as Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.
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