Isabel Leonard and Marlis Petersen in Le Nozze di Figaro; photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera
When James Levine appeared in the pit on Saturday night, the crowd at the Metropolitan Opera went nuts. They were happy to see him, because the conductor has had a host of health problems, and is back in action. Of course, they were happy to see him even before these problems set in. On Saturday night, he waved at the audience for a good long time, expressing his appreciation. Then he got down to work.
His work was The Marriage of Figaro, the Mozart–Da Ponte opera. The overture was not Levine’s crispest or most stylish. But it was plenty good. So was his conducting of the rest of the opera. I have often spoken of Levine’s “just rightness,” especially in Mozart: a sure sense of tempo, phrasing, weight, and overall spirit. I have also spoken of a “natural law” of Mozart—a law to which all good Mozarteans conform. At his best, Levine conveys a sense of inevitability and inarguability: “This is not interpretation. This is the way it goes, period, according to the law.”
A funny instance occurred in the first act on Saturday night. The aria “Non so più” started too fast, or unnaturally fast, or unaccustomedly fast. Then Levine slowed it to its tempo giusto (by my lights, if not the “law’s”). Perhaps, and probably, the conductor had a dramatic purpose.
Playing the harpsichord on this evening, accompanying the recitatives, was Robert Morrison. He played with unusual robustness, even volume. This assertiveness was welcome.
The Met has a new production of Figaro by Sir Richard Eyre, the English director. The show begins with a beautiful nude girl, emerging from a bedroom (or somewhere). For a second, I didn’t know where I was: Was I in Salzburg or some other European city, or was I home in New York? In Salzburg, it is virtually de rigueur to begin a production with nudity. This is the director’s way of assuring everybody that he’s not a square.
But Sir Richard is a square, and I’ll tell you why: In a proper “subversive” production of Figaro, Susanna is freely conducting an affair with the Count, and the Countess is freely conducting an affair with Cherubino. Ideally, Susanna will join in with the Countess and Cherubino. The proper modern director rewrites the opera.
Not this director, not Richard Eyre. His Figaro is utterly Mozartean, and Da Pontesque. It is witty, fizzy, and delightful. It’s suggestive and sly, not blunt and coarse. Also, it is moving. I think of an old line: “If you want to know how to direct an opera, listen to the music.” This notion can be carried too far—but Sir Richard’s production does seem informed by the music.
Here is another line: “A building ought to be a grace to its environment, not a disgrace.” That’s Frank Lloyd Wright. His line applies to opera productions. And this new production is a grace to Figaro.
Singing the title role on Saturday night was Ildar Abdrazakov, the Russian bass. He has many virtues, one of which is versatility. He can sing Verdi, Mozart, Russian roles, other repertoire. His voice is big—or substantial, let’s say—yet it can flit. And, as I’ve often remarked, he has an uncanny ability to sing in tune.
Moreover, he knew his character, Figaro. For example, his “Se vuol ballare” had the right perturbation. Just for the record, that aria also had some unusual ornamentation. Was this Levine-approved, Mozart-approved? Both, I wager.
Susanna was Marlis Petersen, the veteran German soprano. Now and then, she was a little hard to hear—she was slightly faint, I mean—but she was a thorough pro, as usual. There is something else that should be said about her: Nice gams (as the production requires, or, at any rate, incorporates).
The Count was Peter Mattei, singing reliably. I’m not sure I’ve ever known this Swedish baritone to sing unsatisfactorily—even when you can’t endorse every note. Like Abdrazakov and other members of this cast, he knew his character: a caddish and befuddled aristo longing to hold on to his dignity. In certain poses, Mattei looked rather like the actor Dan Aykroyd.
Portraying the Countess was a soprano new to the Met, Amanda Majeski, an American. What she did not have was great beauty of sound. What she did have was breath control, sincerity, and self-possession.
Isabel Leonard was the “girl playing a boy playing a girl”—i.e., the mezzo-soprano in the role of Cherubino. She was rather convincing as a boy, amazingly enough. Frankly, she looked a bit like Alfalfa, from the Little Rascals. More amazingly, she was convincing as a boy playing a girl. In everything she did—vocal, musical, or theatrical—she was whip-smart.
I might mention here that there was no Italian in this cast, to my knowledge—I mean, no Italian member of it. But everyone’s Italian was passable at worst. And Leonard’s was natural.
To conclude, three footnotes, please:
1) I sometimes say, “One day, a bass is a star, bestriding the stage as Boris Godunov or Don Giovanni or King Philip. And the next thing you know, he’s asking for the rent.” What I mean is, a bass, in his later years, may be playing the character role of Benoît, the landlord in La bohème.
In Saturday night’s Figaro, Susanne Mentzer was Marcellina. She sang and acted the role superbly. She was perfect. And there’s no reason she shouldn’t be singing Marcellina at this point. It is utterly appropriate. Still, I think of her as a mezzo star, not as Ruth Buzzi, clocking people with her handbag. I felt a twinge.
2) To many, Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, is a villain. The egotistical overlord who insulted the holy labor unions. I have no doubt that he can be tough or impossible to work for. I also have no doubt that the Met has benefited by his presence. Some people say he’s paid too much. Hell, I’d give him more.
3) There is no “best opera,” obviously. Julius Caesar? Fidelio? Parsifal? La Traviata? Elektra? But if someone held a gun to your head and threatened to splatter your brains on the sidewalk unless you named the best opera, you could do worse—a lot worse—than to blurt out, “The Marriage of Figaro.” The more you know it, the more you are in awe.