This intriguing and intelligent production of Mozart’s masterpiece returns to Glyndebourne’s autumn season following its premiere at the 2024 summer festival. It has lost none of its storytelling clarity or musical sparkle and once again demonstrates director Mariame Clément’s love for, and understanding of, Mozart’s operas.
Glyndebourne’s autumn season may not boast the big stars of the summer festival, but this performance still scores very highly for beautiful singing and fast-paced comedy. And without the eye-watering prices of the festival, it is an absolute treat for anyone able to make the trip to this beautiful opera house in the Sussex countryside.
Drawn from Beaumarchais’s trilogy of plays, the story centres on two clever servants, Figaro and Susanna, who outwit their lecherous master, Count Almaviva. It is their wedding day, but they must scheme to thwart the Count’s plans to seduce Susanna before she becomes Figaro’s wife. We also meet Rosina, the Count’s long-suffering wife, and Cherubino, a young page caught in the torments of adolescence.
An assortment of servants and hangers-on ensures that this bedroom farce is packed with disguises, hiding in cupboards and unexpected plot twists, including a glorious comic moment when Figaro discovers the identity of his long-lost parents. It all culminates in a frantic sequence of revelations and forgiveness in the Count’s garden on the evening of the wedding — the day of madness, as the opera’s subtitle puts it.
There are many characters in this opera, and I want to begin by praising two singers outside the four principals. Henry Waddington was a simply superb Dr Bartolo, with a powerful, expressive bass voice and an exemplary display of angry pomposity in his Vendetta aria. And as Cherubino, newcomer Rachel Roper was magical. She carried off the confused adolescent persona with raffish style and sang her two big arias so beautifully that I found myself hoping for an encore. The way she ornamented the repeat of the main theme of Voi, che sapete was breathtaking.
Canadian-Korean soprano Henna Mun, promoted to sing Susanna for the entire run, proved a fine choice. As so often happens, thanks to Mozart, Susanna becomes the lynchpin of the story and the emotional heart of the drama. Mun’s voice is sweet and persuasive, and her Deh vieni aria was a delight.
As the Countess, Madeline Boreham was every vocal inch the angry wife. While her comic moments were perhaps a little stiff, her qualified forgiveness of her erring husband in the final act was truly moving. As the Count, Anton Beliaev mostly walked the fine line between vengeful husband and randy aristocrat with style, apart from a couple of lapses into pantomime villainy.
As Figaro, Jasurbek Khaydarov was slightly underpowered for my taste — more the crafty schemer than the alpha male equal of the Count — but his fine voice and good chemistry with Susanna made up for my reservations.
The Glyndebourne Sinfonia, under the baton of the promising Bertie Baigent, moved the opera along at a fine pace and produced a balanced Mozartian sound, save for a couple of moments of overenthusiastic percussion.
The performance benefited enormously from the brilliant revolving set created by Mariame Clément and designer Julia Hansen for the original festival run. There were some heavy-handed moments of slow motion and sudden lighting changes to signal characters revealing their innermost thoughts. Nevertheless, the flow of the story was skilfully handled, and the production beautifully captured the atmosphere of a grand aristocratic household where one is never far from one of its many servants.
So, a very fine performance of the greatest of all operas, with a cast and setting that deliver rewards aplenty.
Production details
Glyndebourne Opera, Sussex
Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto: Lorenzo Da Ponte
Conductor: Bertie Baigent
Director: Mariame Clément
Performers include: Henna Mun, Jasurbek Khaydarov, Madeline Boreham, Anton Beliaev
Running time: 3 hours 25 minutes
Dates: Until 8 November 2026
Photos: © Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: ASH