Review: BBC PROMS: THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO FROM GLYNDEBOURNE, Royal Albert Hall

Mozart's beloved comedy The Marriage of Figaro opened Glyndebourne's very first Festival in 1934 and is the renowned opera house's most performed work. No sooner has the production closed in Sussex, it reappeared in London at the BBC Proms for a super semi-staged version.

The plot follows a single day where servants Figaro and Susanna are preparing for their wedding. Their philandering master, Count Almaviva, wants Susanna for himself and so sex, power, class and mistaken identities collide to create a chaotic plot where the Count is foiled and the happy couple attain their happy ending. Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte take a story that is, on the surface, full of buffoonery and fun and makes it profoundly human.

Many of the cast returned from Glyndebourne's vibrant new 2025 summer production. Huw Montague Rendal made a reappearance as the Count; he has a wonderfully smooth baritone and here conveyed the fractious and downright nasty personality of the spoilt Count. In fact, his is one of the most horrible versions of the Count I have seen. Abusive and quick to violence, we see him tightly grabbing wrists and even Rosina's throat as he demanded entrance to her dressing room. 

As ever, the women are in control in this production, but it is inescapable how poorly treated the Countess is by her faithless husband. Louise Alder and Johanna Wallroth returned as Countess and Susanna repectively. Alder's delicate soprano gave a masterful version of "Porgi amor"; heartfelt, poignant and incredibly touching, with real sorrow in her voice as she lamented her lot with her vile husband.

Wallroth was witty and animated as Susanna, showing lovely clarity and control in her aria. Tommaso Barea took over from Michael Nagl as Figaro with energetic aplomb. The pair had a playful and convincing chemistry.

The supporting cast were all strong: Adèle Charvet returned as a delightful Cherubino, having great fun with the role, with a beautifully rich voice. Elisabeth Boudreault brought wit and lively cheekiness to Barbarina.

Conductor Riccardo Minasi also returned from Glyndebourne's staged production, giving lively, pacy and vigorous instruction to the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. I do hope that he has a good osteopath, as the set-up of the production had the orchestra at the back of the stage, with the cast at the front and Minasi constantly whipping his head between the two.

There seemed to be a few sounds issues, with the projection of both the orchestra and singers stymied at points. The surtitles, although clear to the whole hall on large screens, often failed to keep in sync with the singing, or missed key phrases entirely.

Talia Stern (who was Mariame Clément's assistant director for the Glyndebourne production) took over the direction of this concert. A staged concert is a different proposition to a full production and in many ways, the singers and orchestra need to work harder to convey all aspects of the story. The opulence of the original sets was inevitably missing, but there was excellent use of props such as the necessary doors, seating and even a freestanding bathtub.

I always think that opera deserves a larger role at the Proms. Perhaps this lovely production will remind organisers that you don't need all the bells and whistles to still convey the magic.

Read our review of the production at Glyndebourne here.

Read our guest blog with Mariame Clément, director of the original Glyndebourne production here.

The BBC Proms continues at the Royal Albert Hall until 13 September