Reviews June - September 2007
Le nozze di Figaro
Time Out:
"Yet with Ian Page conducting his specialist orchestra, the production maintained the authentic sound. As Susanna, attractive and flirtatious, the Norwegian soprano, Silvia Moi stole the show, and New Zealand's Anna Leese sang beautifully as the Countess."
David Gutman, The Stage:
"While the Classical Opera Company is best known for its intelligent rehabilitation of Mozartian rarities, this latest production breathes new life into the most familiar of all operatic properties. The orchestra employs period instruments, the famous overture enlivened by glittering harpsichord and eagerly thwacked timps as well as some inauthentic onstage scene-setting. Also to feature: natural horns, honking bassoons and touches of vocal ornamentation. The single set is minimally furnished, a green-tinged, Amtico-floored parlour with a back section that lifts to reveal the garden of Act Four. Though costumes, fixtures and attitudes are re-imagined for our own time there's nothing forced about the results: timeless values are respected and refreshed. With standards sky-high it is invidious to single out members of the young, international cast. That said, the Susanna of Norwegian soprano Silvia Moi is a palpable hit, as feisty and strong as the production demands. Making his UK debut in the title role, the soft-grained Swedish bass-baritone, Markus Schwartz gains in authority as the evening proceeds. New Zealand-born Anna Leese makes an unusual Countess; her diamond-clear thread of sound, capable of great things, may need careful handling. Ronan Collett is more sympathetic than usual as the Count while Sally Harrison's Marcellina plays frumpy without caricature. Rebecca Ryan's Cherubino, decked out in high heels and handbag for the cross-dressing of Act Two, delivers physical comedy with aplomb. All ends joyously with lanterns, sparklers and a modest firework display…with everything so cleanly focused under artistic director Ian Page."
Anna Picard, Independent on Sunday:
". . . Also in modern dress, Jo Davies's pocket-sized period-instruments production of The Marriage of Figaro for the Classical Opera Company side-steps improbability by prioritising the relationships over the props. Designed by Alex Lowde, it is a model of ingenuity, and blessed by orchestral playing of tremendous verve and delicacy. Music director Ian Page has good ears for young talent, and Silvia Moi (Susanna) and Markus Schwartz (Figaro) have charm, style, stage-presence, and musicality to burn. I don't think I've heard a better-accompanied Figaro."
Elaine Godden, Kentish Gazette:
"One chair beneath a central light faces the audience when the overture begins but gradually, through numerous doors in the unembellished walls of the set, members of the cast dart in and out, furnishing the room to be occupied by Figaro and Susanna.This symbolic unfolding of the plot (the Count makes numerous entrances) promises a striking production. The entire cast sang so flawlessly that there is little in the way of comparison to be made between them. But the entrance of Anna Leese as the Countess was impressive for the differing quality of voice, carrying a palpable sadness reflecting her role as the betrayed wife. Figaro's strength, wit and resourcefulness were fluently conveyed by Markus Schwartz and the animated allure of Susanna by Silvia Moi. Rebecca Ryan, as Cherubino, was hilariously convincing - her body language masterful in the challenging role of an adolescent boy. The Count, sung by Ronan Collett, was also persuasive in the seducer's part. The relationships between the characters, especially Susanna's with her mistress, and Cherubino's with everybody but the Count, were emotionally powerful. The orchestra playing period instruments, captured Mozart's understanding of the emotions created in all his characters by events in the plot, which is far more complex than suggested by the farce that capers so enchantingly on its surface."
Philip Radcliffe, Manchester Evening News:
"…Le nozze di Figaro receives a refreshing performance from M.E.N. Opera Award nominees the Classical Opera Company, Mozart specialists. An international cast of outstanding young singers, in modern dress and on an everyday sort of set, directed by Jo Davies, give it immediacy and understanding.