Iván Fischer leads Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro at the Rose Theater; photo by Richard Termine  

Though we should not let such niceties detract from the excellent work being done at Mostly Mozart, it has become something of a tired joke that the festival never quite lives up to its name. This season has been mostly Beethoven, and the main program on Saturday night was no exception, opening with the overture to The Ruins of Athens. It begins with a slow, even ponderous introduction. The ensemble was loose at first, though they managed to find themselves in the allegro section. This was not an exceptionally imaginative performance, but it is a slight piece to begin with. It certainly pales in comparison to the fifth symphony in C minor—what doesn't?—which ended the concert.

Beethoven’s fifth is so ingrained in our cultural consciousness that it’s easy to forget just how good it is. In a way, it’s almost difficult to give a performance that is less than compelling, though to give one that is truly transcendent is rarer still. Mr. Langrée and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra did neither—their rendition was solid, but not without its flaws. The first movement was really the only one on which Mr. Langrée seemed to have a firm handle. Though the opening was not quite arresting, the movement as a whole was dark and thrilling, with more muscle than we’re used to hearing from this orchestra in its namesake repertoire. The other movements were inconsistent, with problems ranging from balance to ensemble to over-interpretation. Still, when all is said, Mr. Langrée gets some very fine playing out of this band.

The morsel of Mozart in between was the fifth violin concerto in A major, played by Isabelle Faust. She has received great acclaim for her recordings of Bartók, but her Mozart was less than transporting. She was stingy with her vibrato—a stylistically valid choice, but one has to make up for the lost warmth elsewhere. Mostly she did so, bringing a wonderfully bright tone and singing phrases to the first movement, but in the second the lack of vibrato caught up with her. The concerto gets its nickname, “Turkish,” from the bombastic middle section of the finale, an otherwise perfectly innocent Rondeau. Here she was clever, but lacked gusto. Mr. Langrée was excellent, particularly in the first movement's exposition, bringing idiomatic playfulness to the score.

About half an hour after the first concert ended, Ms. Faust moved over to the Kaplan Penthouse around the corner, where she had an ambitious program in store. Mozart's fifth may not be the most physically demanding violin concerto around, but to follow it up with two of the six solo Bach works is no small task. The two she picked are particularly demanding: Sonata no. 3 in C major requires exceptional poise and includes the longest and most intricate of the three fugues Bach wrote for the instrument. Partita no. 2 in D minor is the darkest of the set, culminating in the famous Chaconne, perhaps the most tragic and expressive movement in the entire violin repertoire.

Only in the finale of the C-major, a sparkling Allegro assai, did she feel entirely comfortable. Fatigue or nerves may have contributed, but the main issue was that she was trying to be “HIP.” For those who are unfamiliar, “HIP” is the rather unfortunate acronym for “Historically-Informed Performance,” a school of playing devoted to replicating historical performance techniques. It governs vibrato, bowings, ornamentation, the instrument itself, even the direction in which trills are executed. In the hands of an experienced practitioner, this style of playing can be both enjoyable and informative, even without period instruments. Ms. Faust (who played with a Baroque bow but on a more “modern” violin) followed all the “rules” to the letter, but was not comfortable enough with the technique to make it a tool rather than a hindrance. The performance, as a result, seemed more cumbersome than poetic. Her tone was uneven, and much of her ornamentation felt contrived. Even that marvelous Chaconne felt colorless.

More successful was Sunday’s opening of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, seemingly the hottest ticket in town. Presented in the Rose Theater, down the street from Lincoln Center Plaza, conductor-director Iván Fischer’s semi-staged production is relentlessly charming, if at times twee.

The overture, which began almost without warning, was vibrant, fresh, and slightly jumbled. Indeed, orchestral discombobulation was a problem throughout the opera, as Mr. Fischer was so located—occasionally standing downstage center, but usually seated just to the left—as to make it impossible for many of the musicians to see the baton. I suppose they did quite well, considering.

The actors spend the overture getting into costume on stage—one of those devices intended to compromise, or at least to make fun of, theatrical illusion from the very beginning. The costuming is a mix of eighteenth-century folksy rags and modern cocktail and business attire—the principals appearing in the latter. Much of the action takes place on a platform upstage center, with costume racks presenting two walls, suggesting we are still in the actors’ dressing room. A few sumptuous period costumes are suspended aloft, to be lowered down on wires when needed for the “dress-up” scenes. The device is mostly effective, hinting at splendor without smothering the singers in yards of taffeta.

The cast was quite strong, particularly the ladies. As the bride-to-be Susanna, Laura Tatulescu was soft in the first act, but thereafter was variously tender, plucky, and witty, with an easy, lush tone. Miah Persson played the Countess Almaviva. She has a lovely, silken voice but also—on Sunday, at least—an alarming tendency to drift flat. It was not so bad as to outweigh the good, but it did often distract from her otherwise excellent singing. Rachel Frenkel made her New York debut as the fawning young page Cherubino, and what a debut it was. At once impish and innocent, she chirped a pleading “Non so più cosa son” with a cool and flowing tone, and later sang a positively sublime “Voi che sapete.” Ann Murray was formidable as the scheming but ultimately redeemed Marcellina. Of the men, only Figaro (Hanno Müller-Brachmann) particularly stood out. He has a full, woody sound that fit the role perfectly, particularly in his “Non più andrai.” His comic sense is excellent, as he enjoyed himself constantly without venturing into absurdity.

Mr. Fischer’s conducting was crisp and spirited, in spite of the sightline problems. The transition between the third and fourth acts was the only debacle in what was otherwise a seamless operation: It took nearly ten minutes to get everything into place, and a single chorister running around assaulting the orchestra with powdered wigs could only cover up so much. Still, the production achieves a balance that is ideal for opera buffa: It manages to lampoon the extravagances of its more serious cousin without itself being weighed down by excess. Well sung, well played, and exceedingly light on its feet, this production is a worthy centerpiece for the festival’s season.

 

Le Nozze di Figaro will be performed again on Tuesday, August 13 and Thursday, August 15 at 7:00 PM in the Rose Theater at 60th St. and Broadway. For more information, visit www.mostlymozart.org

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