Three years after a memorable Entführung under the baton of Frans Brüggen, the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century continues its exploration of Mozart’s opera repertoire, and they still do their late founder proud. This time, it is with Le Nozze di Figaro and with conductor Kenneth Montgomery that they tour concert halls throughout the Netherlands.
At the Amsterdam Concertgebouw on Wednesday night, the British conductor led them into a lively and expressive performance, full of nuanced dynamics and rhythmic choices that emphasized the witty charm of the piece. From the first bars of the overture, woodwinds dazzled, brass sounded surprisingly stubborn, strings throbbed elegantly and one knew these nuptials were going to be enjoyable ones.
As with previous instalments, the opera was presented as a semi-staged performance. I think director Jeroen Lopes Cardozo could have just as well done without the bright costumes and few props (a frame, a door and some giant plant pots): he had at his disposal a fine line-up of soloists with such convincing acting skills that these all seemed superfluous. Singers acted and sang at the front of the stage, turning their back to the orchestra and conductor. This probably explained a couple of very brief moments of faulty coordination with the orchestra, in an otherwise always finely-timed and well-balanced performance.
Roberta Alexander (Marcellina) and Hubert Claessens (Bartolo, Antonio) played and sang their roles with palpable jubilation. Fabio Trümpi showed off his comedian side by portraying a particularly camp Don Basilio and did not hesitate to disfigure his otherwise perfectly pleasant tenor to play Don Curzio.
Rosanne van Sandwijk gave a lovely performance as the page Cherubino: her light lyric mezzo-soprano was smooth and honey-toned and she acted with all the energy mixed with awkwardness of a hormone-fuelled teenager. She even jumped off the Great Hall’s stage to flee the returning count.