Le nozze di Figaro

McVicar's "classic" returns to Covent Garden

The Almaviva servants - including the “spotlit” cleaning lady - jostle Figaro (Mattia Olivieri) on the morning of his marriage Picture by Clive Barda

David McVicar’s 2006 staging of Mozart’s immortal comedy, The Marriage of Figaro has earned its classic status over the years, as one of the Royal Opera’s perennial bankers. Seventeen years on, it still hits most of the G-spots, largely thanks to the director’s continued involvement in the revival process (McVicar took a loudly applauded bow at curtain down, and no revival director was credited, even though his assistants, Johannes Stepanek and Mathilda Du Tilleul McNicol were named in the programme).

But the interplay of the 2023 ensemble had something of the integrity we associate with classic Glyndebourne. There are fewer Italians than than in last year’s revival (conducted by Antonio Pappano) but the sense of team-work under the debutante conductor, Joana Mallwitz, was palpable.