I thought it was déjà vu last Sunday at the LA Opera’s Marriage of Figaro, until we figured out that this was the same production we saw in 2006, with Tim Goodchild’s so-so sets. Everybody except Figaro was in good voice and, above all, exerted themselves to extract the maximum comedy from their part. With Placido Domingo conducting and Ian Judge directing, the emphasis was on the laughs.
The piece evolves from sex comedy to transcendental redemption, but the music never departs from the dramatic situation, even when the dramatic situation is silly. The scene in Act II with the Count getting tools to force open the Countess’s closet couldn’t be more preposterous. But the voices of the Count, the Countess, and Susanna transform it into a apotheosis of affection, embarrassment, pride, naughty glee. Conflict and confusion end in unity and forgiveness.
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