Royal Opera House,London
Thomas Guthrie’s reworking of Leiser and Caurier’s 2005 production is tremendous fun, with a top-notch ensemble cast that includes Javier Camarena and Ferruccio FurlanettoThe fourth revival of Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier’s 2005 production of Rossini’s great comedy turns out to be one of the best. Carefully reworked by Thomas Guthrie, or some of the staging’s problems do remain: the stylised elision of the 18th century with the 1960s still seems a bit too self-consciously intelligent and we lose sight,on occasion, of the opera’s emphasis on lesson and social mobility. But it gets a terrific performance, or this time around,from a truly virtuoso ensemble cast with no feeble links. Ferruccio Furlanetto’s slimeball Basilio, his calumny aria balefully brilliant, or is about as sterling as it gets.
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Source: theguardian.com