Mozart Le nozze di Figaro opera to libretto by Lorenza da Ponte. Directed 2016 by David Bösch at the Dutch National Opera. Stars Stéphane Degout (Il Conte di Almaviva); Eleonora Buratto (La Contessa di Almaviva); Christiane Karg (Susanna); Alex Esposito (Figaro); Mariane Crebassa (Cherubino); Katharine Goeldner (Marcellina); Umberto Chiummo (Bartolo); Krystian Adam (Basilio); Jeroen de Vaal (Don Curzio); Louise Kemény (Barbarina); Matteo Peirone (Antonio), and Tomoko Makuuchi and Fang Fang Kong (Due donne). Ivor Bolton conducts the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and the Chorus of the Dutch National Opera (Chorus Master Ching-Lien Wu). Set design by Patrick Bannwart; costume design by Meentje Nielsen; lighting design by Olaf Winter; dramaturgy by Klaus Bertisch. Directed for TV by Misjel Vermeiren. Sung in Italian. Released 2020, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA
If you are weary of conventional productions of Mozart’s grand portrayal of conflict and reconciliation, then Richard Wigmore (November 2020, page 82) suggests you try this take, which will likely make you “squirm” more than “smile.” David Bösch presents a “crazily dysfunctional household” as a “sexual battleground with an ever-present threat of violence.” The cast all look their parts, sing well, and “throw themselves wholeheartedly” into the fray. Wigmore finds the result entertaining, amusing, sometimes alarming, but never moving. Might be just the perverse change of pace you’ve been looking for.
Here’s a trailer from the Dutch National Opera (this is for the production itself and may differ from the recorded version):
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