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OPERA ATELIER Marriage of Figaro
Reviewed by Leslie Barcza

After a fastidious quarter-century of Opera Atelier their biggest triumph may now be in abandoning some of their trademark purism.  Elgin Theatre was the site of OA’s new production of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. The intimate venue has never seemed a better fit for this company of youthful singers & dancers, supported by the gentle strains of Tafelmusik Orchestra. Every aspect shows a new maturity, a greater degree of ease, whether in the musical preparation & performance, the design or the dramaturgy.

While OA are an ensemble known for historicity, an in-your-face emphasis on youthful bodies in motion, and dance, in this production –a great success—they appear to have relaxed somewhat, moving away from their usual style. This Figaro could be from almost any opera company: and it’s wonderful. Opera Atelier appear to have grown up, less concerned with scholarship than wonderful music theatre.

There seems to be an unspoken agreement dividing operatic repertoire along historical lines between the two big companies in Toronto. While the Canadian Opera Company, operating in their new home at the Four Seasons Centre with their modern orchestra appears to focus on works since Mozart’s time (including an upcoming production of Idomeneo to appear in the next few weeks), Opera Atelier claims the almost two centuries of opera from the beginning of the form up to the death of Mozart. As one of the most popular composers Mozart makes a natural dividing line, a composer that both companies claim as their own, albeit in wildly divergent approaches. Where the COC utilizes a modern approach, OA productions all bear the interpretive mark of their co-Artistic Director, Marshall Pynkoski.

OA productions are typically unmistakeable, particularly in the emphasis on dance and a highly stylized movement vocabulary for the singers. Singers would sometimes seem to be posing as if in a picture; but that is scarcely surprising when paintings were used as source material to show OA how opera singers should look on a baroque stage. When we speak of a newfound maturity for OA that really means subtlety from Pynkoski and his team.

Music Director David Fallis now appears fully in control of every sound made by OA, and the result is unquestionably a great step forward. There was a greater sense of ease to the musical performance than in previous OA shows. Fallis’ dynamics are uniformly gentle, a firm but quiet presence unlike any I have ever heard in an opera. It was as if the orchestra were forever mindful of the singers: the way they should be. The rapport among the musicians was such that singers appeared fully immersed in their portrayals. One never saw those furtive glances towards a conductor that are telltale signs of a battle; their eyes were instead on one another, fully in character.

Fallis’ reading felt like a revelation. Why is it that just because a group of winds are asked to play that they must then bleat so loudly as to overwhelm the singers, as always seems to happen either in the final number of Act One or the opening of Act III?   But the Tafelmusik winds were always gentle and playful rather than overwhelming. The pace of Fallis’ reading was a big part of the evening’s success.  The entire opera comes in at three hours including the intermission, whereas conventional readings tend to be much slower, and as a result, an endurance test for the audience. The fleet-footed reading matches the opera perfectly, with no loss in the singers’ intelligibility, singing the English translation. Although we had surtitles to fall back on, the singers made sure that the text came through clearly, a remarkable achievement given that break-neck pace.

Figaro also looks much subtler, re-designed for this brand-new production by Martha Mann (costumes) and Gerard Gauci (set). Mann brings a particular self-assurance to the cast, no longer dressed as if stepping out of the pages of a Commedia dell’Arte history textbook, and as a result appearing far more comfortable. Previous colour schemes have been almost painful to the eye, admittedly correct from the history books, even though those classic designs were meant for stages lit by candles, not powerful modern lighting. Mann has mercifully fixed that in a luscious and sensuous colour palette that matches the sensuality of the story.

Pynkoski takes us back to the text. Unlike productions such as Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s production at the Metropolitan Opera (where the class warfare between Figaro and the Count is so overt as to take the comedy in a very dark direction) Pynkoski does not get in the way of the comedy. Act I has a decidedly light touch throughout.

But that changes with the arrival of Peggy Kriha Dye’s Countess. Singing of her loneliness to open Act II, the opera discovers a genuine gravitas. This is not the usual static aria showing off the voice, but instead a physically eloquent display of tears and torment, a wonderfully moving display of heartbreak. Dye’s other big aria in the last act similarly raises the tone of the work, silencing an audience who have been laughing throughout. Whenever her servant Susanna, sung by Carla Huihtanen, joined her onstage, the comic tone returned. Huihtanen brought a subtle comic energy to the stage with every appearance. Her partner in crime, the Figaro of Olivier Laquerre, brought a very likeable presence to the stage, a tall agile body with a voice of comparable agility & enunciation.

The other principal was a bit of a surprise, given the way he represented a bit of a departure from normal Opera Atelier practice. Phillip Addis was the vocal star of the production –at least if the applause is any indication—in his portrayal of Count Almaviva.. Given OA’s apparent tendency to prefer youthful singers over genuine stars, Addis is a definite win, as a youthful performer with lots of voice. But the big difference from usual OA practice was on his head. His hairstyle resembles one of the spiky wigs we see in the film Amadeus. The use of such an anachronism represents a transgressive departure from the usually fastidious attention to period details. And wow, didn’t Addis’s Count look like a complete rake as a result, bringing a commanding presence to go with his lovely timbre.

There isn’t a weak link anywhere in this production. See if it you can, until May 1^st at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto.