Conductor, Giacomo Sagripanti; Rosina, Aigul Akhmetshina; Count Almaviva, Jack Swanson; Figaro, Andrey Zhilikhovsky; Dr. Bartolo, Peter Kálmán; Don Basilio, Alexander Vinogradov. Director, Bartlett Sher; Set Designer, Michael Yeargan; Costumes, Catherine Zuber
It is a long time since I’ve heard the Barber of Seville – it’s probably 45-50 years since I’ve heard it live in the theatre, and even in terms of screenings/streamings, the last time I sat through a screening was the Glyndebourne production in 2019. I am sure I have only seen live the elderly ENO one from the 70’s, with a rather rickety brown-looking set inherited from the old Sadlers Wells performances in Islington.
I am surprised how much I remember of the music, given how long it is since I have heard any of it. I remembered all the arias except a very florid aria with dense coloratura at the end before the final number, for Almaviva, which must have been thought beyond the capacity of the ENO tenors of the time
This was a lively production which gave the three youngish principal singers room to innovate, extemporise, and energise each other. It’s impossible not to have some comic drills embedded in the director’s concept (the production dates from 2008) for that’s the nature of the work but you could also sense particularly Rosina and Almaviva ad-libbing in small ways all the time in movement and looks. The costumes were utterly traditional 18th century Spanish and very expensive looking – they looked very traditionally ‘Met’. The sets were much less traditional and very effective – essentially a series of doors and walls (also bushes and trees in one scene) on wheels manipulated by chorus members which were not at all distracting but gave further pace to the production, and gave a real sense of the maze like prison in which Rosina was being kept. In addition, as you can see from the photo there was a walk all the way round the pit to allow variation of scene and engagement with the audience by individual characters
This was a screening which had no down sides at all. All the performers looked the age they were supposed to be and all were good actors, somehow just being themselves, unselfconscious and not using exaggerated gestures. I guess the star was Aigul Akhmetshina. She not only has a most beautiful mezzo voice, with a wide range, including a very high top note at the end of one of her arias or ensemble pieces; she is also very comfortable with the coloratura demands of her role, tossing off runs with a light grace, and she is a consummate actor, naturally dominating the stage. I was impressed by Andrey Zhilikhovsky as Figaro. His voice had richness and depth, he had a good energetic stage presence and conveyed very well Figaro’s occasional venality. Perhaps his delivery was a bit unvaried, in terms of musical phrasing; it tended towards the continuously loud (but his Italian was excellent). Jack Swanson (not a name I’ve come across before but he’s obviously developing his career both in Europe as well as the US) has a high lyric tenor which sounds bright and clear – the coloratura occasionally sounded a bit more effortful (he himself said in the interval, perhaps unwisely, that he felt he’d done well when he’d articulated about 80% of the notes Rossini had written; Rosina was delivering 100% alongside him) and occasionally the voice sounded under strain towards the top of his range. Peter Kalman had a good comic presence and excellent diction, while I was very taken by Vinogradov’s world-weary, tricksy but not over the top Don Basilio, whose Slander number was excellently done. The orchestra had a real zing under Giacomo Sagripanti.
John's musical journey 