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Reader rating
Dir: Jonathan Miller, Ian Rutherford (revival director).
Cast: English National Opera, Rory Macdonald (cond), Tanya McCallin (des), Garry Magee (Figaro), Anna Grevelius (Rosina), John Tessier (Count Almaviva), Andrew Shore (Bartolo), Brindley Sherratt (Don Basilio), Jennifer Rhys-Davies (Berta), Julian Hubbard (Fiorello)
Description: Ian Rutherford directs a revival of Jonathan Miller's popular production, with Garry Magee as Rossini's quick-witted Figaro and Anna Grevelius as the beautiful Rosina. Conducted by Rory Macdonald and sung in English.
Trains: Tube: Leicester Square/Charing Cross 
, Tube / Bus: 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 23, 24, 29, 53, 77a, 88, 91, 139 
Phone: 0871911 0200
Website: www.eno.org
Email: access@eno.org
A fine cast: the Canadian John Tessier as Count Almaviva, singing for the first time
English National Opera has done well out of Jonathan Miller. His stagings of Rigoletto and The Mikado have been two of the company’s most popular shows of the past 25 years, and this production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville has also been round the block a few times.
In fact it’s 21 years old, yet while there are moments when the staging creaks, sometimes literally, this 10th revival (directed by Ian Rutherford) still has plenty of zest, some pith and not a little vinegar. Like Miller’s, Rossini’s humour is zany, sardonic and cruel; the two men might have been made for each other.
Miller puts character before plot, and gags, both verbal and visual, before almost everything; Rossini himself would hardly have disapproved. Of course, he would also have demanded good singing, and ENO has assembled a fine cast, although its strengths are not evenly spread.
At its centre is Andrew Shore’s Bartolo, a party turn that never fails. As sweet Rosina’s dyspeptic guardian, he is hardly the pivotal figure, yet Shore’s comic timing, his inventive physicality and, not least, his absolutely clear diction tend to overshadow everything around him.
Not that he is surrounded by shrinking violets. Garry Magee’s Figaro is a forceful presence, even if his natural seriousness means that he misses some of the humour.
Not so Anna Grevelius, who has all the flexibility that the role of Rosina demands and a personality that is as fiery as it is pert. She is Swedish but you’d never guess it from her ease with the English language.
There are also two notable debuts. The Canadian John Tessier hasn’t sung in this country before but he proves to be that rare beast, a tenor who can make Rossini’s punishing high notes sound graceful. He, too, makes English sound as musical as Italian and he’s not afraid to act.
Conductor Rory Macdonald, working with ENO for the first time, delivers finesse as well as energy. Laughter in the opera house often sounds thin and forced. Not here.
Until 10 October (0871 911 0200)
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
If Tessier was not afraid to act he did not prove it. His acting and awareness of the drama seem often wet and was generally glib. He lacked the energy to carry Almaviva's passion and determination that drives the drama. Vocally, his voice was reasonably suited to the role but often his runs lacked drive and rhythmic energy which could make them seem a little too loose.
I would like to see Grevelius sing a role written for soprano. The mezzo nature of this role highlighted the gear changes in her voice, which she handled capably, but were the cause for her to sink in and out of being thoroughly audible.
Macdonald needs to learn to balance the sound from the pit and the stage better, many a time was the brilliant ENO orchestra drowning out the efforts of the singers on stage.
- Mark Brand, London
