Hilariously human ‘Figaro’ opens Central City Opera season

CENTRAL CITY — Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” now bears the distinction of having been staged by all three major opera companies in the Denver area in the past three years.

CU Opera’s student production in fall 2011 was followed by a professional version at Opera Colorado in spring 2012. And, now, it headlines this summer’s Central City Opera festival.

Saturday night, at the 550-seat jewel box theater in the mountains, the 18th century masterpiece opened to a raucous, almost unruly audience, typical of Central City’s inimitable opening-night experience. In comparison to the previous area versions, the comedy was more palpable, more present, more intimately and skillfully delivered. At the same time, the work’s humanistic elements were brought into even sharper relief.

This is not just attributable to the smaller performance space, and the updated setting to 1920s Spain really affected only the costumes (and only Count Almaviva’s was particularly striking). The production owes its charm and its instant appeal to a sparkling, dynamic cast combined with imaginative, crisp direction and simple, but visually arresting, sets.

Director Alessandro Talevi’s blocking is meticulous, with no wasted time or space. The characters move and flow naturally from place to place, and even the chorus (not a huge presence in this opera) is beautifully integrated into the comedy.

Bass-baritone Michael Sumuel plays the title character with near-reckless, unabated exuberance. His three arias, each iconic in its own way, seem remarkably fresh in Sumuel’s interpretation, particularly the show-stopping jealousy number “Aprite un po’quegli occhi” in Act IV. His vocals are smooth and ingratiating, imbuing the character with the humanity he needs.

But it is Figaro’s bride, Susanna, who has the most demanding role, one of the most strenuous challenges in the standard repertoire. Susanna is rarely offstage and must wait until almost the very end for her big aria, which in this case, with the opera starting at 8 p.m., was a true “eleven o’clock number.” Soprano Anna Christy makes the challenge seem effortless, as the best Susannas do, and maintains a magnificent connection to the audience.

The corresponding aristocratic “upstairs” couple is no less delightful. Baritone Edward Parks is an imposing presence as the morally bankrupt Count Almaviva. He sings with great authority, both in his many ensembles and his enormous Act III aria. Soprano Sinéad Mulhern is a surprisingly human Countess, both tragically pathetic and coquettishly flirtatious by turn. The huge aria “Dove sono,” which often creates dramatic problems, is impressively blocked and gorgeously sung. When the Countess forgives her wayward husband at the end, Mulhern makes sure the audience joins her in forgiving him.

Mezzo-soprano Tamara Gura is perfectly cast as the page Cherubino. Gura’s physical comedy is a delicious sight, and even when the character is famously dressed as a girl, she maintains the illusion so effortlessly it is genuinely easy to forget this is a female actor playing a boy. Gura even inflects her voice in an incredibly appropriate way.

Mezzo-soprano Claire Shackleton, bass Thomas Hammons and tenor Joseph Gaines round out the main cast as troublemakers Marcellina, Doctor Bartolo and Don Basilio. All are excellent, and Hammons is a particularly engaging Bartolo.

Conductor Adrian Kelly keeps the orchestra and the singers moving deftly through the score, but one wishes he would have waited for the audience to settle down before the overture, whose famous first notes were almost inaudible.

CCO’s production is at its finest in the challenging, tonally delicate Act IV. It is tightened up by the elimination of some recitative that is usually included but unnecessary. The staging is atmospheric, the tone appropriate. And the challenging device of Susanna and the Countess dressing like and pretending to be each other is astonishingly effective, certainly helped by Christy and Mulhern being about the same size.