The Geneva “Figaro” (2017) Liveblogging Thread

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Welcome to the White Shirt live comment thread for Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro” from Geneva (2017), with Marko Letonja conducting and staged by former house director Tobias Richter.

Cast List:
Guido Loconsolo (Figaro)
Fabrice Farina (Don Curzio)
Bálint Szabó (Bartolo)
Ildebrando D’Arcangelo (Graf Almaviva)
Nicole Cabell (Gräfin Almaviva)
Regula Mühlemann (Susanna)
Mélody Louledjian (Barbarina)
Avery Amereau (Cherubino)
Monica Bacelli (Marcellina)
Bruce Rankin (Don Basilio)

Libretto: English/Italian/German (html)

 

814 thoughts on “The Geneva “Figaro” (2017) Liveblogging Thread”

      1. *snort*
        even the arm chair looks uncomfortable. And that ironing board is ages below Amsterdam, where most of the set motions seem to come from.

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      1. a rare red pond chick peacock.
        Who designed this??? someone from Vienna?
        or is this just there to distract from the lack of personenregie? Because this entire recit made NO SENSE in relation to the text.

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  16. Susanna is training for a big as Adele in The Fledermaus, and Figaro is bellowing.
    Mühlmann was more fun in a soldier’s uniform making eyes at Bartoli in that Zurich Comte Ory… so far, this is cutezzzzzzzy, no more.

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      2. perhaps he still needs to warm up (looks young, too). Bottom color is nice and round, top flails a bit. Perhaps a better Verdian someday?

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            2. sometimes you do wonder. We thought about it just by sitting around and these professionals bought a few and didn’t use them – instead we got the tired chair with sheet on it…

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      2. in EVERY figaro, more or less.

        On a side note, turning Bartolo and Marcellina into laughing stock takes away from the clear danger signify and makes the plot so much more tepid. They should be creepy baby boomers in power with far too good court contacts.

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            1. well, 13 in the 1780s (when teh countess was likely 19?) was about the same as 32 in the 1910s…?

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            3. plus BEaumarchais was arguing for “harmlessness” when he put that into the defensive intro.

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    1. yes, after a Weinstein debate week and two different essays (one by Susanne Mentzer) on sexual harassment in the opera business, this ring s a little close to reality.

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            1. no idea. I don’t know that I liked the singing, just the character reminded me a lot of small-town party hardys from around here.

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  52. Susanna and Figaro depict the perils of dating a hairdresser – probably one who has a salon with once of these forced creative names like “hairetics”. They probably met there and need to promote a curling iron line.

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  56. okay, Cabell makes more sense to me here than previously, though I think I’ll simply not click with her at large – and I need to move past the vibrato range. Recit works better for me here.

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  58. (jeah… that phrasing.. i think it’s her way of delivering the (not continous) lines , i always hear the words interrupting the lines, even the weights interrupting , and sometimes the physical movements as well..)

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    2. the conductor probably said “he, if the stage director isn’t working with the singers beyond pushing them in a general direction, I don’t have to either!”

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  86. Cabell/d’Arcangelo camping it up soap style is by far the most engaging moment in this staging so far (with the exception of Marcellina, perhaps)

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        1. the facial expression matching with with *precise* movements, and music. like TOTAL synching. (and you’re right, because i can hear.. but even if i can’t hear.. omg, her hand movements.. i’ll have to research about myself after this..)

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          1. Marcellinas should ALWAYS have early music phrasing experience, she can make sense of that whole scene on her own, directing attempts or lack thereof be damned.

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        1. yes, just kidding.
          I thought at first some dove had gotten lost in there and lost all their feathers.
          And with whatever was left of the fabric, they cushioned the high chairs.

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  100. Against my better judgment, I like this goofball Count. Something about making the character vulnerable by joking about him at the same time.

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      2. he has great material, and it’s still in splendid shape. Staging-wise, he could be horriby smarmy & sexist DonG a decade or so ago; this here is clearly a work of growth.

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      1. this one’s fun ike Figaro is fun sometimes, with poking fun at hegemonic masculinity. The abusive riding crop wielding brutes (Fischer-Dieskau…) do make a point on class and gender systems, but I really dislike them.

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    2. (my impression of him has been mixed.. here he’s super spontaneous, like in that Wien DonG.. but that donG with MP in that disgusting staging, it was beyond repair his tiring singing.. might have been protest..)

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            5. Idomeneo would be great, I love that staging. – I’m out the next two Saturdays, though. And didn’t you want to do Galatea with SM first?

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      2. I would guess a bit of both? Her take seems heavy to me, rather old-school (though I find her really alert in acting) – she does pull-backs to piano that seem near abrupt given the weight she puts in; and I think I share your impression of phrase length. Still, I like this one more than her Alcina and her Giulietta.

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          1. Yes, I guess that is what I mean? Starting a size too big, and then the nuance gets lost? And it is old-school in sort of emulating the great of the 60s?

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  105. Well, friends, I’m home, and ARTE will not let me skip to any time but the start, so I believe that’s it for me today. 😦

    I’ll read through the comments at the end, though!

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    1. yeah, it’s really tepid, and ham-handed and often out of sync. Slobby mezzoforte and an occasional thought of “Ah, right, there is a singer up there.”

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    1. and the shade of “And this is your Dad” BWAHAHAAA:
      and now the Count having a breakdown. Watching for usually underappreciated scenes, indeed.

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          2. (jeah, we’ll see. i can’t believe how much i enjoyed her in this non-trouser role. I think it’s normally the case for me, to see the singer in something non-typical to really appreciate their acting & phrasing , hence VK & Helene..)

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            6. if Leia can do cinnamon buns and lead a revolution, why should Marcellina not do the same.

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            8. i have been thinking about this, i am quite certained i dont have a Bacelli situation 🙂 . and strangely it was her tole in dress that drew my attention to finally really appreciate her movements/gestures and phrasing.. rather than the other way around of somehow having the situation clouded my judgement and admiring her in dress :-). i also worked it out that it has to do with the actual color of her voice , somehow it doesnt paralize me…

              i can also assure you i have a serious Mingardo situation 😉 , have been since Aug 2014… also interestingly with her i can identify regardless of whether she is in a dress or in trousers. and after seeing Bacelli ( and hearing both you and Dehggi complaining about the dress) i wonder actually if i somehow nornally dont look at them as much but rather at body postures and angles. (and voice, being the primary reason of course, before any postures/gestures even come in play)

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            9. Interesting, I think clothes often matter for me, also because they are linked to movements/posture/stance? But clearly there are exception from this in some singers, who don’t correspond to traditional displays of femininity when wearing a dress.
              I agree about the voices, my reaction to Bacelli is often more a ‘really cool’ and I think her general stance is a core part of her appeal, while Mingardo yes, ‘paralizing’, that’s the right description, she makes me feel physically weak, and why did it take me such a while to really ‘get’ her voice?

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            10. now that i think about it: i do pay attention to clothes, but in a sense that they don’t hinder but highlight the movements. Like Bacelli’s dress in this prod, i find it punctuates her gestures and facial expressions very well: i could see her arm extension all the way to the tip of her fingers, and the wrist angles/gesturing, and eyebrow! 😀 , and that adooooorable smile while sheepishly asking for something, soo in tune.

              i know we also talked about this before as well: designs that allows free-movements and punctuate angles (ze shirt + pants in Paris, even Aspasia’s dress, and VK’s shirt in Orphée..) vs designs only for the look or destroys the angles / limiting movements (this Galatea’s dress at the knees, wrong material on shirt on Romeo in Munich, etc.) . And indeed when putting on the trousers i think you get to see the postures more i tend to believe because they highlight different angles (Ottone in particular, of angles we might never see from S.Mingardo otherwise).

              I wonder if Mingardo singing the same repertoire as S.Prina’s is one of the reasons it took you a while to investigate her? 🙂 . That’s the reason it took me such a long time to appreciate Ann Hallenberg. i was thinking about it yesterday while walking home from work: that i managed to explore Mingardo simply because she has ZERO overlap with Kasarova. (Almost the same goes with Antonacci).

              (ps- oh, “paralyzing”, not only is she shutting down my brain, now I also can’t speak properly either, might need the basket! )

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            11. I can already see that I’ll be the designated blog driver tomorrow; your amount of pre-blog fangirling is outmaxing the scale!

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            14. Angles, yes, I need to think more about this, probably much of this works subconsciously, and you may be better than me or others in looking ‘through’ the outer appearances like clothing (Ehem, this sounds a bit cheesy, but you know how I mean it).
              You’re probably right about the overlap with Sonia Prina because when you are obsessed with one approach on a piece it is difficult to appreciate others for the moment. I always found Mingardo’s voice very pleasant, but since her voice is warmer than Prina’s, it was also harder for me to overcome that perception of an alto voice as ‘mature’ or ‘matronly’ (in a very feminine way), and I think I had this perception quite internalized from many years of oratorio singing/listening. So, it is a bit embarassing to apparently ‘work’ that simple, but having that voice connected to someone who is super attractive at first sight and not matronly at all seemed to do the trick for me (remember when you posted the Ottone picture during a live blog?). And I wonder how much of angles and stance was already showing on that single picture, because it really was an eye opener. Although, before, in the Aix Trionfo, I do remember being intrigued by her smile already.

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            15. ah, it was the picture! how cool 🙂 . i wasn’t sure at all, i put it there mainly for me to drool while whining about missing the contralto. it was a pleasant surprise to see your sudden interest 😉 . and i had it taken wrong that you might have thought hers is a “feminine” approach ( we’ll even have to elaborate what i mean there at some point.. ), but that’s why i thought once the army uniform was off your interest would immediately dropped.. so was internally happy to hear another person who also hearing SM well..

              i’ll have to think how this works in general… but i believe how we see “beyond” an appearance is quite similar, even if what we look for might be different:

              For example, i had always taken (before, based on her Polinesso in Aix) that S.Prina’s approach was always very “angular” and “tough” .. which i interpreted as 1d, and it was her Cesare, showing vulnerability (remember that scene she pounded the chest, then at the slightest noise panic and ran off..) and immediately i catch on to the “artist” rather than a 1d singer.. and further evidence of course in her sensitive delivery of Rinaldo, which from the first look is also quite a tough dude.. so i think it’s at that level of eureka that we “hear” the finer details. And for artists who are that talented that once we get over a certain self hurdle then it works for us, no matter with outside influence or not.

              back a little bit to her Ottone: indeed i was truly happy to see her in this role, because i’ve already known how she portrayed female roles and Polinesso.. but this one was eye opening in how she approaches “caring for someone” in the most basic sense instead of imitating movements / postures to appear male. Perhaps similar to what she said in that Andronico’s interview: seeking a point where she and the role merge into one and she is the person with that feeling, rather than imitating.

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            16. …catching up on this! First, I need to look at the picture again, it was the Schwetzingen Poppea, right? Ah, yes, really lovely, that relaxed posture and the combination of uniform and roses, but of course it’s only getting really interesting when you connect that to the voice. Her approach on Ottone was very moving, you really have to explain what you mean by ‘feminine’, but if it includes more human weakness and insecurities versus being tough and ready to fight at all times, I’m all for feminine approaches in trouser roles.
              As you say, Mingardo is very authentic in her roles, merging with a role, but I do wonder if her male and female roles do have different movements and gestures? And if yes, is it because of the characters gender or more because they are just different characters? I seems to me Galatea does have a different way of moving but that may really be only because of the constricting dress (Now that you’ve mentioned it, I can’t unsee it, and it really bothers me).
              Btw. I may have given the wrong impression in what I’m looking for with my thing for Polinesso, but in fact I think that is more a case of appreciating a favourite singer and her acting abilities in whatever role, after having discovered her in other roles before (Rinaldo definately has a soft side and that Cesare was just very funny and cute in his imperfections) and once you have seen their soft side, it is easier to even appreciate brutish behaviour in Polinesso?
              Oh and, also connecting to ‘feminine’ Ottone, since the topic of the gender of trouser roles did come up repeatedly lately, I thought about it, and I think I usually see them as women, but need to pay attention if there are exceptions in some cases (i.e. once they are having a beard or a very convincing costume/makeup, it’s getting more confusing of course).

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            18. And I have always been drawn to her voice, but knew her only from non-opera and concert repertory, so until Aix and Ottone, she wasn’t that much on my radar as a stage singer, i.e. For gestures/movements/stances.

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      2. never! In pt. 3, they have a child together and Cherubino lets himself get killed in battle when the COuntess won’t run away with him.

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      1. i’m now making my way to Alcina! the conductor is Leonardo García Alarcón , orchestra Orchestre de la Suisse romande, loads and loads of theorbos in the pit. i don’t think it’s the same orchestra as this Figaro?

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        1. orchestra is the same, but Alarcón should make a difference – he’s the one with Flores and Capella Mediterranea (and that Cavali concert with Bridelli), they do one production a year in Geneva at the moment, also that recent Giasone.

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            1. perhaps also challenging singer-conductor communication?

              EM approach is tough on some singers, very different from core principles of their singing, and it doesn’t work for everyone. And sometimes EM conductors cannot transmit to “outsiders”, either? Plus at least two of the leads were coming from different points with lots of EM experience. Not always an easy blend.

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      1. (and i just now tuned in again, orchestra very nice. good conductor, the one who conducted Cavalli with Bridelli and Flores (his wife, who’s also a really good soprano))

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  125. look who is back making gestures and facial expressions 🙂 . (btw, who is singing? ah i get it, now she’s complaining Cherubino has gone off to “help” the Countess?)

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            2. actually she was also Cherubino in 1992 Salzburg (same year VK made debut singing Tancredi), that’s how i read about it.. some ass reviewer took a swipe at her stature (mini-Cherubino) instead of commenting on her singing..

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            6. found it! already, the overture, anyone with ears can hear the difference when the orchestra (conductor) is engaging. like it has shape! and dynamics! and coherence!
              (that comment i made way earlier that the mic might not be hooked up right.. i think it’s no mic problem.. , no amount of mic could fix what heard last night)

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            1. Yeah, so cute, and I also totally like Damau’s reactions in that one, more subtle acting style back then. (Although… maybe not so subtle)

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            2. Subtle is not Damrau’s middle name. But she DOES things, often very good things, also on a smaller scale, and never just listens in when it’s not her turn. Perhaps a bit over the top at times? But committed and not just repeating stock gestures.

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            4. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her not committed, and she is really good there – same when we watched her Adèle: much presence, fun, engaging. My only quibble is with the content, at times, but never with her commitment.

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            1. Dana! I kept thinking what was her name and all I could think of was Mr Piddles. It wasn’t Piddles, though, was it? Haha. He was a very cute cat. And the GF who was a soupchef, heh = way cute. They had some of the best moments in the entire show. Yea, ToxicWoman was just overly controlling, wasn’t she?

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            2. yes she was. And Soup Chef was lovely, and I still have not forgiven that Dana was killed.

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            3. that ended up a horror show, they were slashing characters left and right just so Jenny Schecter could justify her whinginess. Good times! I loved her writing, though 😉 and how they didn’t shy away from regaling us with it 😀

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            1. like that ending should’ve just leapt at you with how sparkling it is and that didn’t come through for me. It was approaching AmoniaAtenea’s levels of muddy.

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  149. Well, that was a lot more fun than I expected it to be after the set stills – all thanks to you and Bacelli!
    Thank you for coming out today to blog along.

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      1. we all did stop commenting when Marcellina demands the champagne! good night. was great fun. *new* level of appreciation for Bacelli. *very* new. as in “me go digging” . we can even contemplate her Idamante next week? (sacrificing S.Mingardo’s ∂∂ phrasing ?)

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            8. i also never had problem with the wig :-). we can talk about this for hours during the live blog and beyond ;-). btw i have higher res version of this vid in case you d like i can db it.

              i really though Bacelli’s dress was quite nicely fit , hihi. she reminded me if some cartoon character. you can also see on her fb having fun backstage holding the marriage contract.

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            10. Yes, let’s talk about this for hours!
              (Bacelli doesn’t share anything public on her fb it seems, don’t tell me you have become friends with her as well?)

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            12. …Italian singers who do not use FB pages, but personal accounts. Sigh. How am I supposed to support them in a fan capacity if they don’t have the infrastructure?

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            15. i hope you are ready for when we liveblog about SM’s Galatea.. because her movements and facial reactive expressions to the trousers might result in me desperatingly needing resuscitation… (Anik, i think i might need your help there too so am willing to wait until when you are more avail…)

              meanwhile i did check out Bacelli’s Idamante… tooooo cute!! waaay too cute!!

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            16. Adorable, right? And sort of low-key pantsuit queer, too.

              Galatea is not that long, isn’t it? If we met up a little later, Sunday should work – will let you know!

              >

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            21. Oh yes, I was referring to Mingardo I thought? It’s all mixing up. Maybe I should also bring the defibrillator.
              And oxygen wouldn’t hurt for Idomeneo as well.

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            23. low-key pantsuit
              totally, and i absolutely love the flat shoes, soo cute. and i have a gif moment too, regarding elbow/shoulder.. will sort that out soon.

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            24. Bacelli gifs! I am here for that. 🙂

              Will join in once we liveblog the Idomeneo – I guess sometime mid-Nov if we take a break (after Sun) for conferencing?

              >

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            29. at the same time so cute and so assertive – this links to your comment on how Davislim relates to her performance. Intriguing combination.

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            30. AH, I see, it’s all about movement patterns, right? Very direct, sometimes hyperconfident. Love this, you can also see how Davislim totally takes her absolutely seriously as a man.

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            32. Same for me and Dr T., we might be out of it until mid-Nov. even. I’ll try to arrange this Sunday for the Galatea, and then it’ll probably one or two weeks without a liveblog since it is conference season everywhere.

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            37. Ehm, yeah, that one is quite intense, but I insist, no muscles could ever be as impressive as her voice, more a very effective add-on. And I would very much like the high resolution copy of this of course 🙂 🙂

              Too bad you already checked out Idamante, I was hoping to witness your first reaction on live-blog!

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            39. no no i eould be up for live blog. i have tried this many times in the past too and mainly i want to familiarize myself with the music. so mainly listening, and still dont know the story.

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            41. -ps yes yes, you know i discoverd her via the puppet show and radio broadcast of il trionfo and Brahms , and stacks and stacks of audios on tube.. so yeah , the voice and most important the phrasing.

              but as far as add-ons go.. with my general love for dancing and arm coordinations… and hands.. sigh..

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            45. jeah, i think only when said soprano dons ze shirt that brain overrides some coding… and if said soprano in said shirt was singing Aci next to zis contralto in zis delta dance.. … . . .

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            51. i’m still working on it.. i actually discovered her Galatea before her Ottone.. and something about the “dual” setting you know, two women walking back-to-back.. and arms.. sign.. and facial expression.. help me..

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            52. …for me it works better as ‘Ottone in her nightdress, hair curly from showering’ or the likes. Plus the dancers, don’t know yet what to make of it, still a bit confusing. You’re right, loads to analyse, once you recover from first reactions!

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    1. ❤

      ❤
      (sooo appreciative. i'm still trying to figure out what it is that draws me so much in.. i think it's her nature! you can put this same costume and hair and make-up on any other singer and i might fizzle.. but on her *everything* shines — the dynamic part is what i mean. nonstatic)

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    3. ps- and i was trying to figure out the graphic for the clip.. with the first shot being the same as first cap here.. but in the end, i couldn’t pass how adorable the harpsichordist was watching her..

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