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John Tessier (Almaviva), Andrew Shore (Bartolo) and Garry Magee (Figaro) |
Miller’s birthday Barber still cuts the mustard
REVIEW: THE BARBER OF SEVILLE
London Coliseum
THE 21st anniversary of Jonathan Miller’s production of The Barber of Seville is being celebrated this autumn with a sparkling revival of the great Rossini opera at the English National Opera.
Since the first production in 1987, the comic opera has featured in nine ENO revivals before this one, the tenth.
Overall, there have been about 100 performances and it has been seen by more than 200,000 people.
Usually, after 21 years, opera productions have seen their better years. But this autumn’s revival, directed by Ian Rutherford, remains so fresh and youthful that there seems no reason why the production should not be revived again and again.
Somewhat like The Mousetrap, Miller’s Barber is moving towards becoming a Great British Institution, entertaining generations of opera-goers forever.
The production’s success owes much to its small-scale room setting in the first half of the stage within the cavernous Coliseum.
As such, virtually all the singing can be located close to the front of the stage, overcoming the difficulties of filling the huge auditorium with audible song.
That the evening goes with great fizz is due to Andrew Shore’s outstanding Dr Bartolo, the ageing guardian keen to marry his ward, Rosina. The performance is delightfully Falstaffian with Shore making the most of every opportunity to exploit each farcical turn of events.
Garry Magee sings Figaro with zest, scheming with Rosina to
outwit Dr Bartolo so she can marry Count Almaviva.
Anna Grevelius makes her role debut as Rosina, overdoing the vibrato early on but turning each phrase beautifully and clearly.
Canadian tenor John Tessier successfully takes on the role of Count Almaviva in his first performance in this country. Ensembles roll along merrily, each part audible.
Underpinning the performances is some great orchestral playing under young conductor Rory Macdonald in his ENO debut, bringing experience of conducting The Barber at the Royal Opera House.
There are occasions when opportunities of exploiting the inventive Rossini crescendo are missed, particularly in Figaro’s opening aria.
But the woodwind contributions are finely accentuated, creating real tensions with the strings, so that the endless cascade of tunes becomes almost too much to bear.
After an evening with the Miller production, it’s difficult to sleep – there’s so much Rossini still singing in the ear.
SEBASTIAN TAYLOR
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