The Glyndebourne Prom: Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with a young cast on superb form

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro - Huw Montague Rendall, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment - Glyndebourne at the BBC Proms (Photo: Chris Christodoulou/ BBC)

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro: Tommaso Barea, Johann Wallroth, Huw Montague Rendall, Louise Alder, Adèle Charvet, director: Mariame Clément/Talia Stern, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conductor: Riccardo Minasi, Glyndebourne Festival Opera; BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall
Reviewed 27 August 2025

An economical staging mixed comedy, tragedy and politics that allowed a cast mixing youth and experience to create one of the most satisfying performances of the opera I have seen in a long time

Mariame Clément's production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro debuted this summer at Glyndebourne and following a successful two month run, the performers came to rest at the Royal Albert Hall for the Glyndebourne Festival's annual visit to the BBC Proms. On 27 August 2025, Riccardo Minasi conducted the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment with the Glyndebourne Chorus. Tommaso Barea was Figaro, Johanna Wallroth was Susanna, Huw Montague Rendall was the Count, Louise Alder was the Countess, Alessandro Corbelli was Bartolo, Madeleine Shaw was Marcellina, and Adèle Charvet was Cherubino. The semi-staging was directed by Talia Stern based on Mariame Clément's production at Glyndebourne.

The Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment was pressed towards the rear of the stage, making extensive use of the risers which created a substantial acting area, though as is usual with these Glyndebourne Proms, there was little opportunity for eye contact between conductor Riccardo Minasi and his cast.

The set, such as it was, consisted of two doors which were made extensive use of, plus sundry elements of set dressing moved around by stage crew - chairs, tables, a screen for the Countess to change behind in Act Two and the bath for the Count in Act Three.

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro - Louise Alder, Pippa Barton - Glyndebourne at the BBC Proms (Photo: Chris Christodoulou/ BBC)

Clément's production used a traditional, 18th century setting which meant that costumes (designer Julia Hansen) and action all gave a clear presentation of the hierarchy in the palace. Unlike the festival's previous 1960s-set production directed by Michael Grandage, the notion of droit de Seigneur was a clear and present danger here, forming a strong political thread throughout the action. Stern's boiling down of the original production used the limited resources (two doors, a chair, a sheet, a screen) to maximum effect so that the farcical elements were wittily done without too much suspension of disbelief.

I enjoyed the way the evening mixed comedy, tragedy and politics in way which it would seem Mozart and Da Ponte intended. Clément clearly has a nicely operative funny bone, and her comic touches enlivened the evening without ever seeming over done. Having the Count revealed in his bath at the opening of Act Three was a nice touch, and the antics in the garden in Act Four had a neat element of the ridiculous to them. And whenever Marcellina was required to produce documents, she did so by lifting her skirts and digging in her garters, a gag that in Madeleine Shaw's hands never grew old.

But this was combined with the sense of very real danger from Huw Montague Rendall's Count, and the sense of loneliness of Louise Alder's Countess who is forced to switch between personal anguish and public service. And when it came to Tommaso Barea's Figaro, there was a developing feeling of the character's strong political views. Da Ponte might have cut Figaro's extensive political speechifying but Barea made the character's view clear, yet he was funny too. It was that sort of production that balanced things neatly.

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro - Louise Alder, Tommaso Barea, Johanna Wallroth - Glyndebourne at the BBC Proms (Photo: Chris Christodoulou/ BBC)

The casting was such that the young people were young and the older people were old. There was a distinct divide here, and I enjoyed the way the action played up the youth of Figaro, Susanna, the Count and the Countess. Though these latter two were clearly not that young, as they had a young daughter (Pippa Barton). But the secondary characters were all depicted as older and doddery.

Minasi's speeds had quite a sense of zip to them and the dialogue was relatively fleet (but comprehensible in the Hall), but what really counted was the way Clément's building of the major set pieces worked to keep you on the edge of your seat. And in the Act Three sextet, the physical movement of the singers on stage neatly echoed the structure of the piece.

Tommaso Barea (who had sung in the final two performances of the production at the Glyndebourne Festival) was a Figaro who combined fine singing with a strong physical sense. This was a compelling and charismatic character, whose anger at his employer became palpable yet there was tenderness for Johanna Wallroth's Susanna. Frankly, Wallroth was slightly light-voiced for this venue, but she sang with such style and charm that it did not matter. This was not a Susanna who could have easily sung the Countess, as often happens nowadays. instead Wallroth brought style and beauty to the vocal line along with a lovely perky charm and a slight naivety. She was definitely one of Mozart's managing women, but this was only part of the character.

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro - Alessandro Corbelli, Madeleiine Shaw, Robert Forrest - Glyndebourne at the BBC Proms (Photo: Chris Christodoulou/ BBC)

Huw Montague Rendall's Count was definitely a nasty piece of work, yet throughout Montague Rendall sang the role finely. He was ever the aristocrat and whatever he was doing, he sounded it. There was anger and bluster, developing into real viciousness when he was cornered, but alongside this was a suave charm which made you realise he was a practised seducer. Montague Rendall made you understand the way these traits mixed, he wasn't simply an out and out horror. Add into this a nice vein of comedy what with the bath scene in Act Three and the over the top seductions in Act Four and you had a masterly portrayal.

Louse Alder's Countess was on the same high level, her character unfolded in the way Alder presented the private anguish in her two big arias, both finely sung indeed, yet the intensity changing in public. Alder and Wallroth had developed a nice rapport which extended to Barea so that the Act Two scenes worked well. In Act Four, Alder showed a clear vein of comedy (and I remember her admirably complex Susanna at ENO in 2020, see my review), then at the end though she forgave the Count with grace and poise, it was clear that their relationship had foundered irretrievably.

This was an ending that respected Mozart's music but quite clearly could lead to Beaumarchais' third play, La Mère coupable where the Countess has born a child by Cherubino. In this performance, Alder and Adèle Charvet as Cherubino made their relations simmer, never quite going there but leaving the possibility.

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro - Robert Forrest, Huw Montague Rendall, Adèle Charvet, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment - Glyndebourne at the BBC Proms (Photo: Chris Christodoulou/ BBC)

Adèle Charvet (whom we last saw at the Proms in 2023 as Ascagne in Berlioz' Les Troyens) was an admirable Cherubino. Tall and with a gift for physical comedy, Charvet made a highly believable young man, yet did not mug during the comic bits. Finely sung throughout, she managed to bring a sense of youthful impulse to her arias whilst keeping Cherubino on the right side of engaging. Elisabeth Boudreault was an engaging Barbarina, singing her aria with style and meaning (it's not a pin that she's actually lost) and a nice physicality to the comedy. I loved the way she climbed up Huw Montague Rendall's Count when she appealed to him in Act Three.

There was no doubling, so we had a luxuriously large cast. Alessandro Corelli, who has appeared regularly at Glyndebourne since 1985, was on fine form as Bartolo, delivering his aria with relish and making every syllable of recitative count whether being bitter or funny. He was ably partnered by Madeleine Shaw's Marcellina, a real warm character for once yet also very funny. Robert Forrest's Don Basilo was portrayed as highly decrepit, rather annoyingly so, whilst Vincent Ordonneau's Don Curzio was something of a cipher. Alexander Vassiliev had great fun as the one-armed, drunken Antonio. The two bridesmaids were Sophie Sparrow and Biquin Zhang.

We did not get the Act Four arias for Bartolo and Marcellina. This makes a lot of dramaturgical sense; audiences nowadays like the final act to concentrate on resolving the plot. But surely festival performances are times when experiments can be made rather than slavishly following the 'traditional' cuts.

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro - Riccardo Minasi, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment - Glyndebourne at the BBC Proms (Photo: Chris Christodoulou/ BBC)

Riccardo Minasi and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment began the overture as they meant to go on and it zipped and bustled magnificently. Even on the Hall, Minasi's relish of the different timbres and textures that the instruments brought was palpable. Sometimes the speeds were a touch fast for the Hall, but this was a visit by an existing production and we could not expect anything else. Minasi built the great set pieces admirably, crafting long, long stretches of drama from Mozart's building blocks. But in the slower music he seemed to give himself the liberty to pull the music around. This applied to most of the accompanied recitatives, but it was most noticeable in the Countess' two arias, which felt almost romantically self indulgent at times.

Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro performed in the Royal Albert Hall is never going to be ideal, but thanks to the energy and intelligence of the cast this was perhaps one of the most satisfying performances I have seen in a long time and I rather regretted missing it at the Glyndebourne Festival.

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