Customer Reviews

Mozart - Le Nozze di Figaro

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this DVD to see Luca Pisaroni (who was so wonderful as Guglielmo in Cosi Fan Tutte) as Figaro and he was very good. But he was upstaged by Pietro Spagnoli as the Count! What a great job Spagnoli did. I've seen him in two Rossini productions and was not really impressed by him before this. Annette Dasch as the Countess was another pleasant surprise. Her singing was wonderful, but the real jolt for me was that I could believe she was actually Rosina from The Barber of Seville! I've seen six or seven Nozze productions and the Countess is always so pathetic. I wonder, "What happened to the lively Rosina and the funny, love-sick Count of Almaviva?" (Of course, I know there are two different composers and librettists!) Perhaps the director deserves the credit for instilling liveliness in these characters.

Rosemary Joshua as Susanna, Angelika Kirchschlager as Cherubino, and Sophie Pondjiclis as Marcellina were excellent. Marcellina and Bartolo looked way too young for their roles, but they performed them well enough.

I agree with other reviewers that the sets were awful, confusing and distracting. They detracted from the production; thus, my four stars instead of five. And, I don't know if it was just my DVD, but the subtitles appeared out of sync with the singing on the first disc. That's annoying.

Apart from the sets, this is a first class production and Mozart lovers will surely enjoy the music, singing and acting! I recommend it.

I remember how exciting this performance was in June 2004. My wife and I went there four times a week. We bought very cheap seats with a half view. The singers were good lookings, especially Susanna (Rosemary Joshua !), Rosina, Contess. If you saw this performance there, I bet you would like to have this DVD. If you are crazy about Figaro, you may want to add this in your collection. Personally I appreciate Bel Air classics greatly. But sometimes in this performance on your television, you may miss Cotrubas, Popp, Kiri Te Kanawa, Janowitz, von Stade... If you want to have one single DVD for Figaro, I would like you to consider about the other choices.

At long last, Bel Air Classiques has released a DVD of the Jun 2004, Theatre des Champs-Elysees (Paris), Rene Jacobs/Concerto Koln performances of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. Those productions along with the ones in Oct 2001 were a treat to attend and having a DVD of the 2004 event is a dream come true.

Figaro is mostly an orchestra opera, and with Concerto Koln, Mozart and Jacobs have the instrument parfait. Concerto Koln's wind section is sublime. The oboe soli during Dove sono are bewitching. The bassoons are a gift all on their own. The horn section resonant their basso continuo parts and nail their highlighting, for even more musical passion. Meanwhile, the basses and cellos underscore and lift Mozart's work to new heights. Nicolau de Figueiredo's pickup riffs on the pianoforte make delightful appetizers. Jacobs brings this all together with a musicality rarely achieved.

Mora, mora! The man of the match is Il Conte, Pietro Spagnoli. From his entrance just before Cosa sento!, Spagnoli proves there is a singer who can easily hang with the full gusto Concerto Koln. His Act III solo Hai gia vinta (I don't even like that aria) is emotionally charged and sung devastatingly good. Spagnoli's long, alluring climbs near the end of that aria are ooo-la-la! What makes this Il Conte special is his ensemble work. He is there for his mates and leads by example with lovely riffs.

This is a great Figaro. Rosemary Joshua as Sussana and Annette Dasch as the Countess are OK. Luca Pisaroni and Pietro Spagnoli are great as Figaro and the Count. Angelika Kirschlager is excellent as usual, even if she's too pretty to be a credible boy. But the greatest credit of all goes to Rene Jacobs with the best reading I've heard of the score so far. And what to say of the excelent Concerto Koln.

Special credits to the state of the art sound and picture. It all combines to make it the best of the Figaro DVDs so far. Don't be put away because of the high price, it's definitely worth it.

OK, let me begin by saying the music here is fantastic and everyone sounds great. But for me opera is not just music. It's theatre. In fact, it's theatre first. This production has a bunch of flaws in staging and look. The set, IMHO is ugly and doesn't work. When are you inside, when outside? When in servant quarters, when in the masters' rooms? They're all the "same" really on this stage. The costumes are just plain weird for some characters, especially the Contessa who apparently runs around the palace with her chemise pulled off her shoulders and a sleeveless gown. Not much better than her [superiorly costumed] servants. Marcellina is young and beautiful [and very French looking for some reason]. The big act where look is the thing is Act IV where mistaken identity and hiding in the shadows are very important. It's brilliantly lit....by which I mean bright not good... for some unknown reason in this production. Many of the complicated stage bits... hiding in chairs, slipping in the room unseen by others, smacking someone and missing and hitting someone else.... throughout the opera are lame and unconvincing. The acting is wooden [especially Figaro]. So even though the music is top notch, the theatre is below average, so I give it only 3 stars. Makes a great album, but only an average DVD.

For a nearly perfect production all round, I vote Ponnelle's version that was televised in the 80's from the Met with Kathleen Battle, Ruggero Raimondi, Thomas Allen and Carol Vaness...as good a cast [musically] as this and in perfect form....and excellent actors all. The staging is flawless [especially the bits], the sets and costumes fantastic. Its only flaw: cutting Marcellina's and Don Basilio's arias in Act IV. Alas, I've never seen this one offered on DVD [and my tape recorded off the TV is wearing out!]

I agree with previous reviews, this IS a great production. But
I actually DID enjoy the sets, costumes, as well as the really
great acting and singing. Luca Pisaroni is reason enough to purchase
this one---a great Figaro, you will enjoy every moment he is on
the stage. I thought Kirschlager was wonderful as Cherubino, and she
deserved great applause for her "Voi che Sapete", in my opinion.
Pietro Spagnoli was awesome too. And I really enjoyed this Susanna
and Countess as well. No complaints here! This is one dvd that
I will watch, over and over again. Mozart at his best, with the
collaboration of some gifted singers, and an insightful director!

I've finally caved and have bought this DVD in addition to the other 5 Figaro DVDs I own, after having practically worn out my Jacobs Figaro CD. The singers and orchestra are top notch (I'm particularly impressed with the Countess - she's magnificent!). I just have one small quibble....: Am I the only one hearing someone humming along here and there? I don't know who the culprit is, but I'm guessing that it's Jacobs himself. I may be going crazy, but I swear I hear someone humming along.

For the best allround production, I have to recommend the Figaro from Covent Garden (the one McVicar directed), but Jacobs knows his tricks and in this production, the orchestra gets to shine just a little bit more. Another plus is the lack of Dorothea Röschmann, who I'm not that fond of.

Bravo, mr. Jacobs, but please keep quiet and stick to conducting :-)

First of all, the orchestra is superb, and the singers are all in good voice and exquisitely musical. And this is that rare complete version, which not only contains Basilio's aria, but also Marcellina's as well, which I heard for the first time in this production.

And the singers are also skilled actors, one and all--almost enough to make up for those certain aspects of the casting which don't make sense: when Marcellina and Susanna have their duet, in which Susanna twits Marcellina with being over the hill, it's a bit puzzling that in fact the singer portraying Marcellina is considerably younger than the one playing Susanna--in fact, about the same age as the singer playing Figaro, who is ostensibly her son! Meanwhile, watching "Non piu andrai," it's apparent that the singer playing Cherubino is also considerably older than the one playing Figaro.

In addition, the count appears considerably older than the countess--which doesn't fit the back-story of the count wooing the countess away from her guardian. And this appears to be a deliberate choice on the part of the designer--Pietro Spagnoli was only forty at the time of the production, but his gray hair makes him look to be in his mid-fiffties at least. the countess is also much taller than Susanna, who is diminutive--and yet in Act IV, they are supposed to trade places such that they can only be told apart by their voices. Is a puzzlement.

But you will enjoy this production.

Excellent orchestra, excellent singers. However, Mozart's heavenly music is in constant dissonance with acting. Nothing is left for imagination: stupid touching of breasts, initiating women jumping on men in Hollywood style is cheap, scandalous and disillusioning.
Alterations to the music do not improve the harmony either.
Again a performance that may satisfy the taste of the rotten, materialistic elite, whose 2000 years old enemy, the cross is still alive and centre.
If you are looking for real Mozart, this is not for you!