MARIA DUARTE is swept along by the cocky self-belief of a ping-pong hustler in a surprisingly violent drama
Latest editorial
This Figaro hits all the right notes
An excellent production that brings out all the class and gender issues as well as offering an impressive staging, writes JOHN GREEN
Alison Rose and the female members of the ENO Chorus
[Alastair Muir]
STEVE ANDREW recommends a lively and often moving guide to once vibrant spaces that have been abandoned or swept away
GEOFF BOTTOMS appreciates the local touch brought to a production of Dickens’s perennial classic
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production whose design and cartoonish acting overwhelms the close scrutiny of characters
SUSAN DARLINGTON enjoys the raucous familiarity of a traditional topsy-turvy pantomime
RON JACOBS introduces the latest novel by the best writer of US working-class fiction writing today
The Marriage of Figaro
English National Opera
London
Mozart’s most revolutionary comic opera tackles traditional gender roles and class society. But packages it in scintillating orchestral writing and vocal fireworks. It is based on the play by Beaumarchais first performed in 1784. At the time the play was banned in Vienna due its subversive subject matter.
As a result of the ‘#MeToo’ movement, situations where wealthy and powerful men sexually harass women have become a key issue, so Mozart’s 200-year-old opera is as relevant as ever.
Similar stories
DAVID NICHOLSON is thrilled – and shocked – by an opera that seethes and sizzles with passion and the depraved use of power
ANGELA COBBINAH applauds the success of a tribute in drama by a daughter to her immigrant mother
DAVID NICHOLSON welcomes an overdue revival of WNO’s classic production, complete with protests against cuts
In advance of their performances in London BEN LUNN speaks to PETER PAUL KAINRATH, artistic director of Klangforum Wien