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Figaro’s “in concert” Wedding Montreal
Maison Symphonique, Place des Arts
03/18/2026 - & March 20*, 2026
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492
Luca Pisaroni (Il conte di Almaviva), Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (La contessa di Almaviva), Anna Prohaska (Susanna), Ildebrando D’Arcangelo (Figaro), Avery Amereau (Cherubino), Dorothea Röschmann (Marcellina), Robert Pomakov (Bartolo), Geoffrey Salvas (Antonio), Angelo Moretti (Basilio, Curzio), Carole‑Anne Roussel (Barbarina), Madeleine Sarr (narrator)
Esther Gonthier (pianoforte), Chœur de l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Andrew Megill (Chorus master), Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Rafael Payare (Conductor)
Oriol Tomas (stage director)
(© Gabriel Fournier)
The entire plot of Mozart’s fabled opera Le nozze di Figaro (1786), based on Beaumarchais’s play La Folle Journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro (1784), takes place in one day. The frenzied action in Lorenzo Da Ponte’s exceptionally well‑written libretto makes it one of the most dramatically compact and successful operas ever written.
It features five major characters: Figaro; his soon‑to‑be wife Susanna; the Count and Countess Almaviva; and the adolescent page, Cherubino. It also features six secondary roles: the intriguers Bartolo, Basilio, Marcellina and Barberina; the gardener Antonio; and the notary Don Curzio. Playwright Beaumarchais wrote the play as a warning to the upper classes of the drastic winds of change in society and of the working class’s ever increasing assertiveness and ability to outmaneuver their “superiors.” Beaumarchais’s caustic comedy was indeed premonitory of the French Revolution, which was to eventuate just a few years later, in 1789.
As l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal presented Così fan tutte in a concert version last season, it would seem that Montréal’s venerable orchestra has embarked on a project of presenting the Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy over three consecutive seasons. Though Le nozze di Figaro was the object of a well‑received production by l’Opéra de Montréal, the appetite of the city’s opera lovers is big enough to be whetted by this performance with an illustrious international cast.
Recently heard as Don Basilio in Damiano Michieletto’s staging of Il barbiere di Siviglia in Paris, Italian bass‑baritone Luca Pisaroni is an intelligent singer who knows how to interiorize a role. This quality was crucial to this “in concert” format, where Oriol Tomas’s mise en espace does not substitute for a proper staging. Thanks to his charisma and aristocratic deportment, Pisaroni conveyed the Count’s station as well as his supercilious and vain character. More than in other roles I’d seen, he somewhat overacted, though this is likely due to the absence of staging and props. More than any other singer in this production, he impressed with his delectable diction and stage presence. His Act III aria, “Hai già vinto la causa” was a truly brilliant showcase. The strophe “Vedrò mentr’io sospiro” was appropriately menacing. In Act IV, he fared well in his duet “Crudel! perché finora,” where his amorous lamentations were convincing.
The casting of another bass-baritone in the role of Figaro may not have been the best of choices. Though Italy’s Ildebrando D’Arcangelo is an exceptionally good singer, one would have liked the Count to have a darker timbre than Figaro to convey authority. Yet it is D’Arcangelo who has the darker voice, which makes for an odd juxtaposition. This may have been the reason the latter chose to underplay Figaro, especially in his scenes with the Count. Heard a few years ago as King Philip II in Don Carlo in Berlin and more recently as Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro in Dresden, this versatile singer is equally impressive in dramatic and comic roles. His interpretation of Act I’s “Non più andrai,” mixing the admonishing of the young Cherubino on his way to military service with a defiance of his own master, Count Almaviva, was biting. The Act III scene with Marcellina and Bartolo was hilarious, mostly due to this Figaro’s natural comic verve. Thanks to D’Arcangelo’s temperament and beautifully virile voice, his Act IV aria, “Tutto è disposto... Aprite un po’ quegl’occhi” was nothing less than mesmerizing.
Winner of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 2021, thirty‑two year old South African lyric soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha is perhaps too young to portray the long‑suffering Countess, though she conveyed the neglected wife’s sadness and ennui. Endowed with a silvery soprano, Rangwanasha’s voice is rather non‑Italianate, and her interpretation of the role is insufficiently developed. Her Act II aria “Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro” was appropriately melancholy but somewhat tentative, forgivable as this challenging aria is the Countess’ first utterance. She fared better in Act III’s aria “Dove sono i bei momenti”, beautifully interpreted and moving. One can imagine this young singer one day becoming a formidable interpreter of Strauss and Mozart lyric roles.
Among the major protagonists, Anna Prohaska’s Susanna was the weakest. Though Prohaska has had a successful career in light lyric soprano roles, such as Annchen in Der Freischütz, Blonde in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, her voice may have since changed, as the timbre is no longer that of a soubrette. This is problematic as a contrast with the Countess’s heftier soprano is essential, especially in Act III’s duet “Canzonetta sull’aria.” Despite excellent acting, a mature sounding Susanna causes an imbalance and diminishes the overall outcome. Though insufficiently sensual and dreamy, she was at her best in her most memorable aria, Act IV’s “Giunse alfin il momento... Deh vieni non tardar”.
Though usually eclipsed by Susanna and the Countess, American mezzo Avery Amereau’s Cherubino firmly stood out, thanks to her beautiful voice, excellent phrasing, exceptional stage presence and commendable acting. Admired last summer in Munich as Zerlina in Don Giovanni and as Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Amereau is a stunning performer whose charisma made her one of the most memorable characters in these two operas, an admirable feat, especially for Zerlina. Without overplaying the effervescent adolescent page, she was a most credible Cherubino. Her Act I “Non so più cosa son, cosa sento” was appropriately petulant, but the tempo was too fast, perhaps deliberately so, to exaggerate the adolescent’s excitement. The Act II “Voi che sapete che cos’è l’amor” was gloriously interpreted, replete with passionate longing.
Heard last summerin the same role in Munich, German soprano Dorothea Röschmann, once a brilliant Countess herself, was a deluxe Marcellina. Vocally, she has too good a voice for this secondary role. Moreover, Röschmann surprised with her natural comic verve, choosing to avoid parody, a common pitfall in the portrayal of the old matron. Her underplaying the role made Marcellina one of the most charismatic characters in this performance, despite her having no arias to sing. Her Act I flippant exchange with Susanna, “Via, resti servita, Madama brillante... Non sono sì ardita, Madama piccante”, was well‑executed and amusing.
Canadian bass Robert Pomakov was an excellent Bartolo. His delicious Act I aria “La vendetta, oh la vendetta” was well sung, though he wasn’t fast enough enunciating the passage “Se tutto il codice dovessi volgere, se tutto l’indice dovesse leggere...”, essential to convey the character’s cruel spitefulness. Without proper staging, it is hard to clearly portray the character. Pomakov seemed almost amiable, which is not an attribute one associates with Bartolo. The other minor roles, Basilio, Barbarina and Antonio, were well sung and acted, with Angelo Moretti a memorably slimy Basilio.
The opera’s most glorious passage is the finale of Act II, which unfortunately failed to ignite, again due to the limited format. Given the absence of sets, Cherubino simply jumped off the stage rather than through a window. A small cupboard, one of the few props used, was not a convincing place for Cherubino to hide. The Count’s locking an imaginary door as he and the Countess exited the stage did not convince either.
Act IV is the hardest to pull off, as the two secret trysts (the Count with the Countess disguised as Susanna; Figaro with Susanna disguised as the Countess) can be confusing. Even in fully‑staged productions, it’s difficult to create the space and lighting to imply the two amorous rendez‑vous are secretive, visible to the audience, and most of all credible. In most stagings, the subterfuges are too obvious for the public. Matters are made worse in an opera‑in‑concert version, where the travestimento can be unperceivable. Despite both the Countess and Susanna being veiled, the disguise failed to convince. For those unfamiliar with the libretto, the plot must have seemed baffling. As such, the sublime ending with the Countess’s “Almeno io per loro perdono otterrò” must have meant little to many.
Conductor Rafael Payare opened with a promisingly spirited Overture and kept a fast pace during much of the performance. In several passages, notably Cherubino’s first aria and Figaro’s “Non più andrai”, the tempi were too brisk. However, they were adjusted to suit the singers’ needs in the Countess’s arias and in Susanna’s “Giunse alfin il momento”. The stylised movements by the singers as well as the chorus during the Fandango finale of Act III were visually appealing and tasteful.
Opera-in-concert is an increasingly popular way of presenting this art form, but it has its drawbacks. It makes perfect sense with obscure rarities one’s unlikely to see otherwise. Therefore one questions the motivation to present one of the most enduring works in the repertoire in this reductive format. This is especially true for Le nozze di Figaro, where Da Ponte’s libretto is without exaggeration the equal of Mozart’s outstanding score. Enjoying a brilliant director’s spin on the opera is as pleasurable as the pure enjoyment of the singing. Without a proper staging, the many characters in Le nozze di Figaro inevitably lead to a certain confusion.
Though the narrated text by Mani Soleymanlou was witty and narrator Madeleine Sarr had ample flair, eliminating the recitatives greatly weakened the performance. For one, several situations felt odd without an introductory dialogue, such as Cherubino singing his first aria as soon as he appeared on stage. Crucial details, such as Barbarina’s lost pin and the role it played in the plot, were close to impossible to understand. More importantly, recitatives in Mozart and Da Ponte’s collaborations, much more than in other operas, are highly significant as well as divinely exquisite. Depriving the public of their bite is a true pity. Moreover, more than with arias, the recitatives in Mozart’s operas allow the singers to truly express the personality of the characters they portray. By cutting them, their true nature remained obscured. A case in point are the secondary characters, whose recitatives were not cut, as most are not required to sing arias. Here, Basilio, Bartolo and especially Marcellina were dramatically more impactful than some of the main characters. Nonetheless, it was a gratifying experience for opera lovers to hear several great singers who are not heard often enough in Canada.
Ossama el Naggar
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