COC's sexed up Figaro: beautifully sung, creepily funny

Lauren Fagan (Countess), Emily Fons (Cherubino) and Andrea Carroll (Susanna)

Lauren Fagan (Countess) and Gordon Bintner (Count)

Uli Kirsch (Cherubim) and Luca Pisaroni (Figaro)

Le nozze di Figaro

By John Gilks, 28 January 2023

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“the headliner is Luca Pisaroni as Figaro, playing the manservant as a self confident fixer”

Reviewed at Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto on 27 January 2023

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

Canadian Opera Company

Harry Bicket, Conductor

Claus Guth, Director

Christian Schmidt, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Olaf Winter, Lighting Designer

Canadian Opera Company Orchestra

Canadian Opera Company Chorus

Andi A. Müller, Video

Marcelo Buscaino, Revival Director

Gordon Bintner, Count Almaviva

Lauren Fagan, Countess Almaviva

Luca Pisaroni, Figaro

Andrea Carroll, Susanna

Emily Fons, Cherubino

Robert Pomakov, Doctor Bartolo

Megan Latham, Marcellina

Michael Colvin, Don Basilio

Doug MacNaughton, Antonio

Mireille Asselin, Barbarina

Jacques Arsenault, Don Curzio

Uli Kirsch, Tenor

Ramses Sigl, Choreography

Lepage’s Bluebeard and Erwartung pairing remains compelling theatre

John Gilks, 25th April

Some 30 years after its first appearance, Robert Lepage’s double bill of Duke Bluebeards Castle and Erwartung is still strikingly effective and very modern-looking music theatre.

*****

Canadian Opera Company’s Barber proves as fresh as ever

John Gilks, 5th February

The Barber is back in Toronto with an excellent cast, young and old, and it’s as lively, colourful and energetic as ever.

****1

Christopher Alden’s Rigoletto returns to Canadian Opera Company

Michelle Assay, 28th January

Christopher Alden’s Victorian-era Rigoletto still divides opinions, despite top-notch performances all around in this Toronto revival.

***11

Canadian Opera's Orfeo returns elegant, restrained and very satisfying

John Gilks, 9th October

The restrained beauty of Robert Carsen’s production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice is matched by musical elegance in its revival current revival at the Four Seasons Centre.

*****

Canadian Opera Company opens season with Roméo et Juliette

John Gilks, 27th September

Amy Lane’s production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at the COC is eye-catching and enjoyable but doesn’t offer the same level of insight as her Faust last season.

***11

Eugene Onegin revival fails to find the magic spark in Toronto

John Gilks, 2nd May

Robert Carsen’s 1997 production of Eugene Onegin has aged remarkably well but the latest Canadian Opera Company revival of it doesn’t quite recapture its magic.

***11

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John Gilks

John trained as a mathematician before working all over the world in management consulting. He’s now settled in downtown Toronto as an e-health strategy consultant. His operatric interests are eclectic but lean to the very early and very modern. He is also passionate about art song. His writings can be found in Opera Canada magazine and in his blog. He is owned by a small, grey cat called Jane.

Canadian Opera Company's sexed up Figaro: beautifully sung, creepily funny