Classical reviews: September 20

Mozart: Le Nozze do Figaro. Anna Netrebko (soprano) and others, Vienna Philharmonic. Deutsche Grammophon 2 DVD

This is another review from Anna Netrebko, the three-opera boxed set of reissues by DG featuring the talented Russian diva recorded in past Salzburg festivals.

The 2006 slightly gimmicky production (by Claus Guth) of Mozart's famous ''opera buffo'' about the marriage of Figaro contains wonderful music.

Netrebko, as eye-catching but vulnerable Susanna, skips about in a servant's apron with gloriously radiant and beautiful singing.

The handsome and macho servant Figaro (tenor Ildebrando D'Arcangelo), rival to the older and angry Count of Almaviva, (baritone Bo Skovhus) also both stand out.

Other principals, especially Dorothea Roschmann as Countess and Christine Schafer's Cherubino, deserved much applause.

Conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt takes tempos rather slowly right from the opening overture.

Making the opera last over three and a-quarter hours adds to it seeming heavier than usual, losing some comic sparkle and dragging the action.

The visual side is more controversial.

The set is a bare, empty house with large staircase but no furniture, possibly explaining why singers roll around on the floor a lot.

Bartolo, the doctor, even falls out of his wheelchair.

The device of a young male dancer wearing small wings (''Cherub'' in the credits) is a distraction.

He peeps in on scenes or whirls round like a cheeky Cupid, with no vocal role: at one time he kisses Figaro, in another scene he tears off the Count's shirt amid dramatic singing.

Figaro, early on, had waved about a dead bird; seeming a portent for the darkish element of comedy.

Verdict: Magnificent singing, sorry about staging.

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