THE BARBER OF
SEVILLE
English
National Opera at the London Coliseum
25.02.13
Jonathan
Miller's
classic
staging
of
the
Barber
returns
to
St
Martin's
Lane
for
the
eleventh
revival,
a
quarter
of
a
century
after
its
first
performances.
No
director's
ego
on
view
here,
though.
Miller
has
been
scathing
about
the
more
bizarre
operatic
visions
of
recent
years,
though
that
didn't
stop
him
relocating
The
Mikado
to
a
Thirties
Grand
Hotel,
another
ENO
favourite
revived
this
season,
with
his
Boheme
still
to
come.
This
is
very
much
Rossini's
Barber,
set
in
an
exquisite
recreation
of
eighteenth
century
Seville,
with
more
than
a
hint
of
the
Commedia
dell'Arte.
The
production
gives
space
for
the
music
to
speak
for
itself,
and
for
the
individual
performances
to
inhabit
the
stage.
The
performance
which
stands
out
here
is
Andrew
Shore's
much-loved
Bartolo
– the
Pantalone
of
this
Commedia
– a
comic
creation
which,
alone
in
this
company,
triumphantly
combines
singing
and
acting,
with
a
superb
physical
presence,
and
a
touch
of
pathos
amongst
the
slapstick.
The
young
lovers
are
Lucy
Crowe,
in
her
first
Rosina,
wonderfully
stringing
together
her
coloratura
pearls,
and
not
lacking
in
warmth
as
the
ward
with
a
mind
of
her
own.
Her
suitor,
Andrew
Kennedy,
succeeds
well
as
a
romantic
tenor,
and
relishes
his
several
disguises.
Benedict
Nelson
is
a
rather
vanilla
Barber;
he
holds
the
stage
well,
though,
and
his
delivery
is
sharply
precise.
The
other
ENO
artist
on
view
is
Kathryn
Broderick,
who
makes
a
brilliant
Berta,
and
shines
in
her
solo
aria.
The
setting
is
shallow,
especially
in
the
earlier
street
scenes,
and
the
staging
often
static.
But
full
of
masterly
touches:
the
synchronised
feet
in
the
Innuendo
duet,
Figaro
clearly
concealed
in
Bartolo's
cabinet
of
curiosities,
the
exaggerated
hat
worn
by
David
Soar's
delicious
Basilio,
the
failed
elopement
[they're
too
busy
singing
about
their
escape
to
make
it
to
the
window
and
the
ladder].
"I
love
a
happy
ending,"
sings
Nelson,
and
we
certainly
have
one
here,
with
the
chorus
[carnival
revellers
and
military
men]
and
the
whole
cast
celebrating
Almaviva's
triumph.
Making
his
UK
operatic
début,
conductor
Jaime
Martin
moves
the
score
along
briskly
– his
overture
was
urgent,
but
very
melodic
[and
unadorned
by
stage
business,
almost
a
given
in
more
recent
productions].
Just
seven
more
performances
of
this
hugely
enjoyable
cornerstone
of
the
repertoire,
before
Bartolo's
music-room
is
mothballed
for
another
season.
