Rossini’s Barber of Seville has always been one of my favourite comic operas. It is genuinely funny and the music is a delight but I doubt that any production has ever been as enjoyable and well received as the one the audience were treated to to open this year’s Glyndebourne Festival. Everything about it was simply magnificent.
American tenor Jonah Hoskins, as Count Almaviva, demonstrated from the start a glorious tenor voice that was a joy to listen to, especially when accompanied by genuine comic acting ability. The opening scene, in which he attempted to serenade the lovely but elusive Rosina, suggested that we were seeing something special, but this became extra-special with the entry of Figaro, played by Mexican baritone Germàn Olvera, who sang almost as well as Hoskins but showed perhaps even greater comic talent.
He also surprised us when he played the guitar with great skill and Flamenco flamboyance. When Figaro accompanied Almaviva in his serenading, it was glorious to see him in full view rather than the usual fake of miming his strumming while a member of the orchestra was playing the guitar music.
Often in this opera Figaro and Almaviva fall short of being a good comic double-act, but Hoskins and Olvera were glorious together and when their act was joined by Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Molinari, they inspired each other to form a great comic trio. And all of them showed superb singing ability that made Rossini’s most tonsil-tangling music seem simple.
With Rory Macdonald conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra at an exciting pace that increased the difficulty for the singers, they all passed the challenge brilliantly. Italian baritone Fabio Capitanucci was particularly impressive as Dr Bartolo in singing the fastest passages of all at breathtaking speed with Macdonald faultlessly managing the task of keeping the singer and orchestra together.
On top of all this, the director Annabel Arden deserves great credit not only for attracting a cast of such quality for the leading roles, but for spotting some excellent talent among the Glyndebourne chorus members and adapting their roles to take advantage of their abilities.
Despite all the praiseworthy features of the main characters, a particularly loud cheer from the audience at the end was reserved for Irish soprano Ailish Tynan in the role of Bartolo’s housekeeper Berta. Embellishing her single real aria with gloriously seductive behaviour and a flash of a green suspender belt provided perhaps the best of all the comic moments of the evening.
Great music, delightful singing, superb casting, delicious humour, imaginative direction: I do not think that I have ever seen an opera performance as perfect as this one. I wish I had more than five stars to give it.