If Don Carlo is a full-bodied Rioja, then Il Barbiere di Siviglia is the crispiest of prosecco, and on the hottest day of the year to date it was exactly what we needed at Grange Park Opera. Especially with this production, which ticks all the right boxes that Rossini provides for performers, without distracting directorial interventions. This is a technically accomplished production in all its foundations, with all the icing and froth you could wish added on top by a cast who act and sing with equal accomplishment and confidence.
It is the contribution of the director and set designer, Bruno Ravella and Francis O’Connor, that grabs you immediately as the familiar overture strikes up in the pit. We are presented with the elements of a skeleton set.. doors, staircase, and balcony that coalesce and then reform to give us different perspectives on the Bartolo household and its neighbours. This is populated by members of the cast who sketch out some of the comic preliminaries of the opera with the key moments timed to a punchline chord in the score with comic precision. You immediately relax and know you are in safe hands with this team.
The actions skips along with some delightful bits of of business and everyone at ease in their roles. In an opera as familiar as this you look out from interesting departures from expectations and we get that as early as ‘Largo al factotum’, where James Newby, as Figaro, pops up from behind shutters in the bath, and never misses a beat in his ablutions. In the slathering heat of the first night we were all envious. This was an early example of how the flexibility and suppleness of the set and stagecraft allowed for innovation while never slackening the pace of delivery.
While Figaro gathers attention in the early scenes, much of the burden of the singing rests on the shoulders of whoever is playing Count Almaviva. Here Nico Darmanin is outstanding, whether as himself, or as Lindoro or Father Alfonso, with lithe, athletic acting to go along exceptional vocal agility and stamina. None of the arias are straight-forward and yet he carried them all off with panache as well as deft stage business. He was well-matched by Ginger Costa-Jackson who was a feisty Rosina from the get-go, pushing back against constraint and eagerly inventive in finding freedom. Apart from a slightly uncomfortable spread in tone at her very top she was vocally hugely impressive.
There was equal strength of voice and characterisation in the supporting roles. Although he got some pantomime boos at the end, Simon Bailey’s Bartolo was one of the best sung I have heard in a role which is often just barked. The same could be said of Julian Close’s Basilio, a true rich bass, and more dignified than is usual. Ailish Tynan was luxury casting as housekeeper Berta, but this only went to show what can be done with this sort of role. Her acting off the speech was a delight, and who will forget her wardrobe shape-shifting in her one aria?
The Gascoigne Orchestra conducted by Gianluca Marciano are entirely at home in this repertory, but the quality of the instrumental solos stood out for their shape and phrasing, so vital when a single line is in dialogue with the voice in key numbers. My one reservation rests in the area of dynamics. As I have argued in other cases, a true Rossini crescendo relies for its success on starting from a genuine pianissimo base, and few conductors are willing to go there. This is not a pedantic point. Basilio’s Act One aria, ‘La calunnia è un venticello’, relies for its effect on the contrast between a whisper and a thunderous cannon – unless you hear that in the orchestra as well as the text you don’t get the point about the meaning of scandal.
This does not seriously detract, however, from a superlative evening of stylish and accomplished singing and creative work – very much Grange Park at its liberated, inventive best.
Bravi Tutti!
Gioachino Rossini
Libretto: Cesare Sterbini, based on Beaumarchais’ play of 1773
Director: Bruno Ravella
Conductor: Gianluca Marciano
Cast includes: Simon Bailey, Julian Close, Nico Darmanin, Ginger Costa-Jackson, James Newby, Ailish Tynan
Until 12 July 2026
Photo Credit: Marc Brenner