Cancelling the Count

In the first decades of the current century, The Marriage of Figaro has been a regular fixture on the list of most-performed operas; and, as with any opera of comparable popularity, there is always the danger that new productions will simply coast on the charm of the music without bothering to make a strong case for the continued relevance of the story. While it is true that even a lacklustre Figaro can be delightful, the excellent new production from the Opéra de Paris offered something far greater, a staging that managed to be modern and topical without denying its audience the opera’s fundamental pleasures. Between wonderful singing and playing, superb acting and a refreshingly high level of engagement with the possibilities of the text, the production was a welcome reminder of how, in the right hands, Figaro can still be a great…