January 21, 1995

MOZART: Le Nozze di Figaro
Hagley, Martinpelto, Stephen, McCulloch, Backes; Terfel, Gilfry, Feller, Egerton,
Clarkson; English Baroque Soloists, Gardiner. DG 439871-2 (3)

This is a high-energy performance, motivated not only by lively tempos but by crisp, accented orchestral playing. The English Baroque Soloists offer "period" sound without the whiny violin tone that puts off many modern listeners.

Bryn Terfel's capital Figaro, optimistic but determined, is the key figure, seconded by a subtle, human Count from Rodney Gilfry and a spirited, conniving Bartolo from veteran Carlos Feller. Hillevi Martinpelto captures the Countess' injured innocence in her opening aria and responds gradually to the cheering influence of Alison Hagley's lightweight but sensitive Susanna. Pamela Helen Stephen, a soprano Cherubino, pulls her punches a bit too much, coming across as more coy than breathless, but hers is a personal reading. As a whole, this cast does a fine job of avoiding stand-and-sing theatrics on the one hand or hushed preciousness on the other, achieving an informal, intimate tone that gives the opera as much life as does John Eliot Gardiner's leadership.

In Act IV, Gardiner solves the problem of the Marcellina and Basilio arias by keeping them in a main tempo that moves the whole act. As explained in his introductory notes, he tries changing the order of the music somewhat, placing Susanna's aria in the middle of Figaro's accompanied recitative. (For traditionalists, an appendix holds the usual version.) There is plenty of fine tuning, such as Susanna's "din din" in the opening Act I duet actually getting loud, justifying Figaro's "pian pian"; and the occasional oddity, such as no appoggiatura on "gioia bella" in her "Deh vieni" aria. Stage movement is reflected in the stereo imaging, but the mikes never lose the voices, and the esprit of this stage performance is hard to match.

-J.W.F.