Royal Opera House/ ****

Those of you under the misapprehension that a visit to the opera entails enduring unintelligible, interminable arias by rather large men and women should take a trip to the Royal Opera House to see Mozart’s joyous The Marriage of Figaro.

Yes, it is in Italian – but there are surtitles (an ongoing translation screened above the stage) – so there is no difficulty working out what is going on. From the moment the famous effervescent overture begins, we are transported into a world more akin to a Ray Cooney farce than anything else. This witty production, first performed in 2006, makes the most of all the mistaken identities, misunderstandings and door slamming that form Mozart’s tale of love, lust and forgiveness.

There is a serious side to the story – it centres around the ancient custom of droit du seigneur, whereby a master could bed any of his female servants on their wedding night and the various
characters’ attempts to avert this. Despite all the comedy, there is also a core of sadness at the heart of the story, for the forgiving Countess Almaviva must put up with a constantly philandering husband.

The predominantly Italian cast bring a lot of fun to the work, enjoying all the physical comedy – there is plenty of laughter to be had in this production, but above all, it is the singing that makes the evening so memorable, which is as it should be. Riccardo Fassi is a powerful
Figaro, while Giulia Semenzato is sweetly melodic and mischievous as his
bride-to-be, Susanna.

The star of the evening is surely Federica Lombardi as Countess Almaviva. The beauty of her voice as it soars through the auditorium is something to cherish; never forced, always controlled, but rich with emotion. Her rendition of the famous Sull’aria with Semenzato (if you have seen The Shawshank Redemption, you will recognise it) is a sublime moment in
the opera. She also looks ravishing in Tanya McCallin’s gorgeous designs. It is
Lombardi’s debut with the Royal Opera – we can only hope that she will be snapped up to sing other roles with the company.

The Marriage of Figaro is at the Royal Opera House until 27 January. www.roh.org.uk