Customer Reviews
The director's cut - By: Mr Swallow, 16 Jun 2010 
If you like opera productions where the director puts his own quirky interpretation of pseudo-Freudian nonsense over & above Mozart's & Da Ponte's intentions then this is the production for you. Frankly, despite good singing, it's hopeless. Here we get the subtleties of Mozart's & Da Pronte's miraculous drama updated into some pointless black comedy with the points rammed home with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Conducted with a leaden baton this makes a travesty of Mozart's fizzing comedy, draining it of all the humour. Especially irritating is the little cherub figure who is a festish of the director's imagination. Yes, it's good to have a new view on things - but not this! Call me reactionary, but if it means rejecting this sort of pseaudo-intellectual tripe, then I'll gladly take the label!
BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT !!!!!! - By: David M. Calvert-Orange, 22 Sep 2009 
After a short period of uncertainty at the strangeness of the set & the transposing if the opera int a different era, my first impression made me buy another blu ray DVD of this opera which ranks with Magic Flute as my favourite.
However I persevered because Harnoncourt is perhaps my favourite interpreter of Mozart. To my surprise everything about it grew on me.
The singers are of course superb except for the fact that blu ray is a little unkind at times to Cerubino who looks the middle aged lady she is!!! No disrespect meant, though perhaps someone more boyish could have been chosen or why not break with tradition & use a boy from the VBC??!!
The acting is superlative & draws you into the production with the force of gravity relentlessly destroying any misgivings I ever had about it.
The angel for me was a masterstroke ... I suppose he was meant to be cupid but for me he added a spiritual dimension to the work weaving his magic on everyone to great effect.
The count & countess were exceptionally good & so too were Figaro & Susanna.
But the star of the show was really the superb acting that combined with the faultless singing mesmerised me fron start to finish.
By the way my favourite Magic Flute used to be the sublime Covent Garden version stagedin the traditional way. BUT now Harnoncourt yet again won me over with his way out version comnbined with the most awesome singing & newly researched tempi that give a subtle difference to the best loved arias that realy must be heard to be believed ... they are sublime. Harnoncourt for me is THE master of Mozart today.
Buy these two discs of Figaro & the Magic Flute. View them with an open mind & I am sure the general package will win you over ... it certainly did me & I am VERY conservativein my tastes
Nozze as Ibsen play...with an Angel ... Brilliant - By: pointone, 22 Nov 2008 Mozart 22 - Le Nozze Di Figaro - Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Nikolaus Harnoncourt/Ann Netrebko [2006]
According to the producer this is Nozze realised as "an Ibsen or Strindberg play or a film by Ingmar Bergman". Amazingly all the components for this concept are includedin Nozze, bringing out subtle dark sides of the drama, for instance Susanna having a secret passion for the Count as well as her new husband.
The concept does require major changesin the acting & some changesin tempo, but these occur naturally. Probably the Count (Bo Skovhus) was the most difficult because much of the comedy resolves around him being deceived, but Skovhus does a great job.
The only thing I do not like about this production is the introduction of a silent dancing angel Cherubin (Uli Kirsch) who seems to add nothing to the drama. An additional dancing alter ego was successfully usedin the Salzburg "Finta Semplice), but it does not work for mein Figaro, & I hope dancers are not going to become a regular feature of opera productions.
The singing by this great international cast is exemplary, filming & orchestral support under Harnoncourt beyond reproach.
Open your mind to something new & enjoy a wonderful experience.
Eurotrash - By: Ellen Drew, 25 Oct 2008 US Reviewers of this nonsense label this type of production Eurotrash. I was so vexed at this travesty of Le Nozze di Figaro that I gave it to a boot sale for animal charities. What a waste of Netrebko & D'Arcangelo!
An insult to anyone who loves Mozart's Figaro - By: Mr. AJW Hegarty, 27 Dec 2007 Empty sets, invented characters, no levity & gimmicky direction. I'm afraid to say that everything that makes Figaro great is missing from this production. Frankly, I cannot see how any fan of the opera can feel anything but cheated by this, & the wasting of such a fine cast.
There are some saving graces - namely the singing of both d'Archangelo as Figaro & Schaeffer as Cherubino, but these really do not compensate for the absurdity of the production. Any sense of humour or life has been sucked from the opera by the bleak setting & ponderous conducting, which does otherwise fine singers like Skovhus & Roschmann no favours. The invention of a prancing, male angel adds nothing to the drama but a sense of irritation whenever he appears. Why is he even present? Why does Basilo suggest the Count lead Susanna to a seat when there isn't one on the set? Why does the Countess invite Susanna to enter her chamber when she's been standing next to her for four minutes? And why did the director ever feel the need to meddle with this operain the first place?
The Marraige of Figaro is one of my favourite operas, but I could not face watching beyond the middle of Act 2. To me, this is not Mozart's opera anymore. I was left with the distinct impression that the music & drama were an impediment to an arrogant director with no feeling of how to stage on of the most successful operas of all time.
If you want to hear the singers, buy the CD & avoid this dreadful, lifeless staging. Very disappointing.
