McVicar’s Figaro scrubs up well at Covent Garden

Stéphane Degout (Almaviva) and Mattia Olivieri (Figaro)

Mattia Olivieri (Figaro) and ensemble

Siobhan Stagg (Susanna) and Anna Stéphany (Cherubino)

Siobhan Stagg (Susanna), Hrachuhí Bassénz (Contessa) and Stéphane Degout (Almaviva)

Stéphane Degout (Almaviva), Hrachuhí Bassénz (Contessa) and ensemble

By Mark Pullinger, 09 July 2023

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“when Mattia Olivieri’s Figaro angrily shouts into his master’s face in Act 3, it’s a shocking moment”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 8 July 2023

Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)

The Royal Opera

Joana Mallwitz, Conductor

Sir David McVicar, Director

Tanya McCallin, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Paule Constable, Lighting Designer

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

Royal Opera Chorus

Stéphane Degout, Count Almaviva

Hrachuhí Bassénz, Countess Almaviva

Mattia Olivieri, Figaro

Siobhan Stagg, Susanna

Anna Stéphany, Cherubino

Maurizio Muraro, Doctor Bartolo

Dorothea Röschmann, Marcellina

Krystian Adam, Don Basilio

Peter Bronder, Don Curzio

Sarah Dufresne, Barbarina

Jeremy White, Antonio

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Sir Mark Elder celebrates 50 years at Covent Garden by returning to his first opera there in 1976 – Verdi's Rigoletto – in a revival of Oliver Mears' excellent 2021 production.

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

McVicar’s Marriage of Figaro scrubs up well at Covent Garden