Conductor
David Parry
Directed by
William Relton
Designed by
Tanya McCallin
Figaro
Leslie John Flanagan
Count Almaviva
Colin Lee
Rosina
Victoria Simmonds
Doctor Bartolo
Andrew Shore
Don Basilio
Jonathan Lemalu
Fiorello
Toby Stafford-Allen
Ambrogio
Peter Kerr
An official
Roger Begley
A Notary
Philip Daggett
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The Barber
of Seville
by Gioachino Rossini
English National Opera
London Coliseum
24 October - 28 November 2002
Every last ounce of comic possibility in this truly funny opera is realised in this delightful production. That is in large part the result of the direction, both Jonathan Miller's original conception and William Relton's intelligent revival; but it also owes a great deal to the excellence of the acting. Andrew Shore's Doctor Bartolo is outstanding, and deserves to go down in the annals as a paradigm for the role; and Jonathan Lemalu's performance as Don Basilio is a gem too, one of those brilliant supporting endeavours that gives a production extra dimension.
Needless to say Leslie John Flanagan as Figaro, Colin Lee as a highly plausible Almaviva, and especially Victoria Simmonds (when this reviewer was in the stalls) as a beautiful and determined Rosina, are all wonderful, singing with conviction and accuracy and acting as if they were thoroughly enjoying themselves. And that is the key to the Barber of Seville; it is a romp, and needs to be played as one, with tight pacing around the music, and full rein given to the variety of character and the cliff-hanging sequence of events spilling into one another as Bartolo and Almaviva evolve competing conspiracies to get Rosina's hand.
An opera stays firmly in the repertoire when the music satisfies – and Rossini's score fits both characters and story like a glove. Under David Parry's baton (handed to Alex Ingram from 12 November) the music satisfies indeed, and in the best-known stretches – Figaro's introductory aria, for the prime example – flows as freshly as on a premiere night. Leslie John Flanagan's Figaro has a remarkable facility for pointing the toe as he sings, a signature that accompanies his scheming, knowing, cheerful and mercenary character throughout. As with the robust acting elsewhere in the cast, it buoys the music as well as being inspired by it, and everything goes with a bang.
The memorable thing about this fine production is, however, Andrew Shore's Bartolo. Among all the good reasons for seeing it, Shore provides the chief.
AC Grayling
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