The Marriage of Figaro

As the overture suggests, The Marriage of Figaro is fast and fun, all the events of the frantic day ahead evident in “bubbling rhythms and cascades of instrumental laughter ... that capture the spirit and pace of the work” (Peter Bassett). That pace and Mozart’s passion and sense of fun are the essence of this most entertaining production directed by Sir David McVicar.

It is no static, posed production. The action is as wittily choreographed as the score, so that the characters are as lively and chaotic as the music and the plot. This is opera buffo at its very best – with some of our most popular performers singing on the prettiest of sets in some stunning costumes.

Setting the opera in the 1700s gave designer Jenny Tiramani the opportunity to use the colours and fabrics of the period to create a picturesque set and intricately designed and crafted costumes. Her attention to balance and rhythm in design and colour matches that of the music and the direction.

Paolo Bordogna returns to the Opera Australia stage as Figaro. In fine voice and with great energy, Bordogna finds all the humorous complexity of this role, charming the audience with his mischievous smile and actions, as well as his vocal range.

And, what a thrill to have Taryn Fiebig and Nicole Car in the roles of Susanna and Countess Almaviva!

Fiebig is beguiling sweet – and charmingly cunning – as she manipulates Figaro, the Count and her mistress through the complexities of the plot. There is strength and power in her singing – and her acting. Her Susanna is down-to-earth, energetic, bright and wise. She is a delight to watch.

Her mistress, the Countess, is a tragic figure, and Nicole Car finds all of the unhappiness of this character in the moving notes of her cavatina in Act II and her aria “Where are they, the beautiful moments” as she laments the seeming loss of her marriage in Act III.

Both Fiebig and Car are perfect models for the costumes Tiramani designed for them. Car first appears in a beautiful silver and blue morning dress, which picks up the ‘uniform’ blue of the costumes worn by Susanna, Figaro and the other servants of the household. Over this she wears a silver morning coat lined with a deeper blue, glimpses of which are tantalizingly revealed as she moves. This scene is set in her boudoir, which is richly decorated in pink satin hangings and touches of the blue that is a recurring motif in the overall design.

For the wedding, Tiramani has used gold for the Countess and white of course for Susanna, both gowns using the lightest of fabrics that allows for the gathers and puffs that were a feature of the period.

Count Almaviva, performed with poise and posed aplomb – and powerful voice – by Andrei Bondarenko, wears similarlystriking but contrasting costumes. His full-length nightdress and morning coat in Act I is replaced by a wonderfully crafted suit in Act II. Stitched in gold and red braid, it is worn over a white shirt, the collar and cuffs of which are embroidered with intricate cutwork. In the final scenes he wears a similarly embroidered shirt under a black, quilted, satin suit decorated with silver beading, black tights and shiny, black, high heeled shoes. He strikes a fine, romantic figure in both these stunning costumes.

Marcellina (Jacqueline Dark), Doctor Bartolo (Richard Anderson) and Don Basilio (Benjamin Rasheed) are all dressed in black, providing the appropriate contrast to their superiors – and the servants.

Everyone expects to be charmed by the music of Figaro as, from playful humour to serious accusations to lovelorn laments, the characters sing their way through the many evolving complications of the plot. In this production there is the added charm of believable action and beautifully designed costumes.

It is as much a delight to watch as it is to listen to!

Carol Wimmer

Images: Andrei Bondarenko (Count) and Nicole Car (Countess), Paolo Bordogna (Figaro), Anna Dowsley (Cherubino) and Taryn Fiebig (Susanna),& Richard Anderson (Dr. Bartolo) and Jacqueline Dark (Marcellina) in Opera Australia's The Marriage of Figaro. Photographer:Prudence Upton.