Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro [Blu-ray]

Seldom has such stellar talent taken such glorious source material and produced such unconvincing results. As an admirer of Netrebko, Schafer, Harnoncourt and "concept" productions in general, I looked forward to this DVD with much anticipation, and I find it hard to overstate my disappointment. Productions that add new insights by taking calculated risks are to be welcomed, but this one is too clever by half, misses the point and ends up compromising one of the greatest operas.

The main culprits are Harnoncourt and Guth, who have decided to turn this edgy and brilliant comedy into a dreary and often pretentious bore.

The set is a depressing over-scaled turn-of-the century interior gone to seed. Dead crows, feathers, leaves and other detritus litter the stage. This sets the tone, as the opera's extraordinary subtlety, inference, pace and wit are overshadowed by heavy-handed symbolism, occasional nastiness, and depressing, ponderous tempos. An unscripted teenager dressed as a cherub flounces on stage every now and then to remind us that the protagonists' love-interests are complex and intertwined, on one occasion providing us with a PowerPoint presentation in case we are too dim to get the point. Every time this ludicrous figure enters, the protagonists go into slow motion, which would be merely silly if the entire production wasn't already in slow motion, Harnoncourt having decided to linger over every phrase, in the process losing most of the sparkle and tension in the score.

Guth takes an outstanding cast and wastes them. Christine Schafer would have been wonderful as Cherubino had she not been forced into agonizingly slow tempi and ridiculous situations. In one memorable moment, when Cherubino says to the Countess ". . . perhaps these lips would dare . . ." she does so after both the Countess and Susanna have been sucking Cherubino's lips off his (her) face. And then the unscripted cherub drifts in, symbolically dispensing feathers over the protagonists.

As for the rest, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo is a dour Figaro, Bo Skovhus a nasty Count, Patrick Henckens a bizarre Basilio in a wheelchair (on one offensive occasion, falling out of it). Dorothea Roschmann a pathetic Countess. Anna Netrebko tries her best as Susanna, but not even she can inject enough levity to redeem this humourless and pretentious show.

Not recommended.

This is my first Mozart opera. I bought the DVD because I am a great fan of Anna Netrebko. She has a great voice and is very easy on the eyeballs. It is a different style of opera from what I am used to (Donnizetti, Puccini, Verdi) with its long sections of recitative which suddenely break into beautiful arias. I have watched it several times and I am still unsure as to what the story line is supposed to be. In fact I am begining to suspect that the plot line, such as it is, is simply a framework on which to hang some wonderful music. Perhaps in its day is was considered somewhat risque but by today's standards it is only mildly amusing.

Having said all this I have to state that some of the music is enough to move me to laughter and/or tears. On the other hand there are large parts that I feel I could sell as a garanteed cure for insomnia. Figaro's aria at the end of the first act where he is describing to Cherubino the wonders of military life is a hoot. Cherubino's song (arietta) in the second act "Voi che sapete", is a delight. The third act has a the contessa's aria "Dove sono", and the duet of Susanna and the contessa "Che soave zeffiretto". Here the advantages of a DVD come to the fore as one is able to skip backwards and forwards as much as one desires.

As for the staging I can only give it a single star. I have sinced watched two other DVD versions borrowed from the library one of which starred the great Kiri Te Kanawa. Both of these had traditional stagings and these I preferred. Plus, the addition of the Cherub is a complete distraction.

Claus Guth -- remember this name -- a so-called innovator for opera settings who obviously wants to modernize old operas like Le Nozze di Figaro, to make them palatable for twenty-first century viewers.

On 29 November 1827 Mozart's Singspiel Die Entführung aus dem Serail was performed in Covent Garden as the new grand opera The Seraglio with additional music, airs, etc. composed by Mr.Kramer -- as if this would make Mozart's music more presentable. The Magic Flute was offered to the Parisian public as Les mystères d'Isis, which included changes in song settings, etc. Here is the last sentence of what Berlioz wrote about this performance: "The Mysteries of Isis was played in that [altered] form, printed and published with the name of that idiot Lachnith actually with Mozart's on the title page." [Lachnith, Louise Wenceslas was a German composer living in Paris.]

Now back to Claus Guth, who altered Mozart's opera by adding one character, Cherub. This is a male angel who wanders onto stage at the most inappropriate moments and into the action, throws feathers into the air and at the actors, and wants to make us believe that he is controlling destiny. He wears short white cupid-wings making him look like a plucked white chicken in blue shorts.

The stage set consiss of hallways, stairs, and doors. In this setting -- Berlioz would have said idiotic scenery -- the best opera singers of 2006 gave a stellar performance; down to the smallest role the singers were flawless.

Deutsche Grammophone supplied a good booklet with the DVD-set. The provided synopsis and descriptive essay in English, French, and German give insight into the opera.