The Opera We Never Tire Of

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The New York Sun

In a way, you don’t envy Mark Wigglesworth, the British conductor who is leading “The Marriage of Figaro” at the Metropolitan Opera.The company’s music director, James Levine, is also currently leading a Mozart opera – “Cosi fan tutte.” Mr.Levine is one of the best Mozart conductors we’ve ever seen.And “The Marriage of Figaro” has always been his domain. But Mr. Levine can’t conduct everything, and Mr. Wigglesworth had a chance to make his Met debut, when “Figaro” was revived on Wednesday night. In the end, he acquitted himself well.


The opera begins, of course, with one of the most famous and beloved overtures in the repertory. Under Mr. Wigglesworth’s baton, it was moderately together, and moderately spirited – also moderately moving. This did not portend a memorable night. But Mr. Wigglesworth proved a good manager of affairs, and he showed a solid understanding of the work. The score breathed well in his reading. Tempos were sensible; nothing screwy took place. Mr.Wigglesworth was particularly good in Act IV, the final act, which built shrewdly and inspiringly.


It’s better to end well than to begin well.


There were other debuts on Wednesday night – including the sensational one of Joyce DiDonato, the American mezzo-soprano portraying Cherubino. The Met, and the opera world at large, have many mezzos who can sing this role: Susan Graham and Jossie Perez are two. Make Ms. DiDonato prominent on the list. She has loads of personality, vocally and otherwise. She played Cherubino lustily – there was a lot of testosterone in this portrayal. (Recall that Cherubino is a pants role.) And she sang those great arias – “Non so piu” and “Voi che sapete” – stylishly and compellingly. They sounded neither tired nor hackneyed. Ms. DiDonato has a beautiful voice, and it is beautiful in interesting ways: There’s a touch of smoke in it, and of opulence.


It would have been a memorable night for Joyce DiDonato alone.


Another notable debut was that of Maurizio Muraro, an Italian bass-baritone portraying Don Bartolo. He too sang beautifully, and interestingly – and authoritatively. And he proved a most engaging actor. Don Bartolo can be kind of a nothing role, but Mr. Muraro made it something substantial.


In the title role – Figaro himself – was the young Italian baritone Luca Pisaroni. Mr. Pisaroni is fast becoming a star around the world. For the past few summers, he has been a presence at the Salzburg Festival – in Mozart operas,in Gluck – and Figaro is his first major role at the Met.(He debuted last year as Publio in Mozart’s “Clemenza di Tito.”) I’ve repeatedly described Mr. Pisaroni as a “streamlined” baritone, and so he is: He sings in good, clean lines, and those lines are elegant, too.The voice is exceptionally well focused.And it is the ideal weight for Mozart. Let’s hope Mr. Pisaroni never strains, never tries to be a bigger baritone than he naturally is.


“Se vuol ballare” was delightfully nuanced. “Non piu andrai” could have been more commanding and more dramatic, but it was tasteful, and not inef fective. “Aprite un po'” was explosive, in that nice Mozartean way.


In addition, Mr. Pisaroni has a keen awareness of the stage, and of his place on it. And it never hurts to be fit and handsome. If all goes well – and there’s no reason it shouldn’t – Luca Pisaroni will occupy the world’s opera stages for decades to come.


Mr. Pisaroni’s partner, as Susanna, was Lisa Milne, a Scottish soprano. She is a modest singer, not the kind who bowls you over – at first. But she grows on you, or at least she did so on Wednesday night. Like Mr. Pisaroni, she is tasteful, probably incapable of doing anything vulgar. And by the time she got to Susanna’s last-act aria, “Deh! vieni,” she was warm, melting, winning. Then, you were bowled over.


Adding to all the beautiful singing was Peter Mattei, the Swedish baritone in the role of Count Almaviva. That voice is extraordinarily smooth,and the acting is pretty smooth, too. The Count is a lordly rascal, but he is not without a redeeming quality or two. At the end of the opera, when the foolery is over, he sings, “Contessa, perdono” – he is apologizing to his wife. Mr. Mattei was startlingly sincere and touching here.


Appearing in the role of that wife, the Countess, was the soprano Hei-Kyung Hong, a veteran and acclaimed Mozartean. She had a somewhat shaky start.The Countess must start with the aria “Porgi, amor,” exposed and difficult, like so many Mozart arias. Ms. Hong was uncertain and off-pitch, and she was guilty of a most inappropriate instance of portamento. It was unlike Mozart, and unlike her. But she soon showed her customary purity and poise. Her high Cs were on the money, and unstrained.And when she sang the Countess’s other big aria – “Dove sono” – you could see that her reputation as a Mozartean was earned.


The mezzo Wendy White has long been Marcellina at the Met, and she did her job on Wednesday night. In my experience, Ms. White always does the job, whatever the role. And doing the honors as Don Basilio was … not Michel Senechal.This French tenor has been the Met’s Don Basilio of choice lately, and he always steals the show (or at least his portion of Act I). Mr. Senechal is a simpering hoot (as Don Basilio, I mean). But Greg Fedderly is the new Basilio, and he exhibited his own creepy charm.


Wednesday night might have been the season premiere of “The Marriage of Figaro,” but it was not the first time we had seen the opera at the Met this season: Act I was included in the company’s opening-night gala. That was a dynamic performance – a thrilling one, actually – with James Levine in the pit, Bryn Terfel in the title role, and Isabel Bayrakdarian entering hearts as Susanna. Mark Wigglesworth is a different kind of conductor, and the current singers are different, too. Wednesday night’s performance may not have been so dynamic – but it was unquestionably worthy of this great opera.


Which we see rather a lot of, don’t we? You may ask whether we see too much of it. I can give you the answer of Werner Hink, the concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic. Last summer, he participated in a panel at Salzburg, and he expanded on his love for Mozart. “I have played in ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ over 500 times,” he said. “And I never tire of it. I love it more every year.”


That’s the kind of admirer Mozart wants!


“The Marriage of Figaro” will be performed again November 5, 8, 11 & 16 and April 12, 15, 19, 22 & 27 at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center, 212-362-6000).


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