Word: figaro
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Marriage of Figaro," at Leverett House this weekend
...Marriage of Figaro is a case in point, a pleasant, musically solid, but not inventive piece which would never survive as a play. Left in Italian, the audience might think it vaguely believable, even intelligent. Leverett House, however, has changed the second rate Italian of the original into third rate English, and tried to present it as a sort of Gilbert and Sullivan with real music. The producers of the Leverett House Figaro seem to think that there is some theatrical merit to da Ponti's book; if the libretto indeed has any function, it is as a bad example...
...director of Figaro, David Bartholomew, has tried hard to exploit the meager theatrical possibilities in the opera, and succeeded in producing a decent acting performance from a cast of singers-a difficult job. But the Leverett House production would have done better if it hadn't tried to create theatre where none exists. A garbled translation into lackluster prose is just not enough basis for a theatrical blockbuster...
...Figaro is good solid Mozart, respectable but not too difficult for a good orchestra. John Miner, the conductor, rehearsed his orchestra well, and put together a tight performance. Miner is an enthusiastic conductor whose beats are impossible to follow as his arms go flailing through the air (in one particularly violent tutti, his cufflink flew off and hit me on an upbeat). He has the orchestra and continuo well under control, and the singers cued in well...
...EVANS as Figaro has a strong and mature voice, although his bearings and mannerisms are perhaps a bit too ingenuous for the part. Jo Ella Todd holds her own as Susanna, with a clear-voiced elegance and presence. Richard Gill's voice is made for Italian opera, and a good makeup and costuming job made a convincing Count Almaviva out of him, while Elizabeth Phinney, who has the commanding character of the Countess down to a science, was the best of the female leads...