The Marriage of Figaro
- Robert Beale
- 39 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Da Ponte & Mozart, after Beaumarchais
Opera North
Grand Theatre, Leeds
January 30-February 20, 2026: 3 hrs 15 mins
(Further performances on February 1, 7, 14, 18, 20 at Leeds Grand Theatre; March 12, 14 at Lowry, Salford; March 19, 21 at Theatre Royal, Newcastle, and March 26, 28 at Hull New Theatre)
You can take The Marriage of Figaro out of the 18th Century, but can you take the 18th Century out of The Marriage of Figaro?
It’s a story (originally a play) based on the persistent tradition in semi-feudal circles, that a titled aristocrat has droit de seigneur when it comes to young, attractive women in his employ. Beaumarchais’ comedy was about something that was still all too real, but his hero, Figaro, is smart enough (along with his fiancee Susanna and her boss, Countess Almaviva) to outwit the randy Count’s attempts to waylay (and lay) the bride on her wedding night. It was banned for being revolutionary in its day.
The opera is set in Seville (Figaro having been the eponymous Barber of... in the play that preceded it), but the location hardly matters. Opera North’s new production – the company's first in the original Italian, the previous two having been in lively English – brings it to a slightly down-at-heel English country house in our own time (or near it): side screens provide translation to overcome the language problem.
It’s not Downton Abbey, as American director Louisa Muller sees it – rather something a bit lower down the financial scale – but still a place where the old-fashioned ways still have some clout. You might even think of a Jilly Cooper story in the social setting here: the Countess and her “maid”, Susanna, were at school together, and Susanna is a feisty young lady with the resources to dress smartly and wield some power in the somewhat dysfunctional household. Between them, she, the Countess and Figaro manage to trick the Count into keeping a night-time assignation that turns out to be with his own wife.
On the whole, the update succeeds well, and Louisa Muller’s production is detailed in its business – sometimes a little puzzlingly, but I like touches such as the use of mobile phones to summon those who need to be summoned; the fact that Figaro has not forgotten his barber skills when it comes to getting the lovesick youngster Cherubino ready for military duty (though would he use a cut-throat razor today?), and the idea that the Countess is pregnant and that she and Susanna are busy creating a nursery as we hear the sublime letter duet.
Madeleine Boyd’s design provides a nicely observed and created country house that’s probably got financial problems coming – including a split set for Act Three, a very sensible solution – along with a variety of costumes for the varied crowd of employees and contractors who turn up from time to time (thus populating the chorus, who as ever give their all, including in the hilarious wedding dance – choreography by Rebecca Howell).
Susanna is sung by Hera Hyesang Park. Her combination of accuracy, flowing line, lovely tone and sustaining power are aristocratic in themselves. She’s someone who may have missed out on being milady but is no one’s inferior and treats her employer as an equal. (Her place will be taken by Claire Lees for Salford).
Liam James Karai is Figaro, a bass-baritone with steely power in his voice and a worthy partner to her (Emyr Wyn Jones for Newcastle and Hull); Gabriella Reyes is the Countess and sings her sad nostalgic arias with beautiful phrasing; James Newby, as the Count, contrasts nicely with Figaro: his keener voice, at first seemingly less confident than his assertive acting, comes into its own in the later parts of the opera.
The supporting roles are cast from strength – Jonathan Lemalu is Bartolo, and Katherine Broderick is great fun as Marcellina (that’s all to do with a sub-plot I won’t bother you with).
Conductor Valentina Peleggi knows how to speed things along when appropriate, but also gives time for the slower tempi to create their magic. The ensembles are beautifully balanced, and the Act Two finale wonderfully paced. (Oliver Rundell will conduct on February 7 in Leeds).
More info and tickets here. The opera can also be seen in Nottingham, Mar 5, 7
