Royal Opera House

It’s a rare moment of peace and quiet for Hairy McMungo with Caledonia going to a party after nursery and wee Imogen fast asleep. Hairy predicts she won’t wake up for thirty-one minutes so Hairy will try to complete his (p)review in this time.

This production has been hitting the headlines recently but not because of the performance. Joyce DiDonato fell off the stage and broke her leg not long after her first entrance. She then got up and spent the next three hours singing. Hairy McMungo could have predicted an accident but he would have expected it to happen to the Figaro, Simon Keenlyside. And quite possibly it did as Keenlyside appears to have withdrawn.

DiDonato’s understudy is probably feeling a bit depressed right now. If a broken leg doesn’t stop DiDonato from performing, Hairy thinks very little will. In fact Hairy would go so far as to say that even a pay cut might not stop her. Hairy McMungo realises DiDonato is not Scottish (if she was she would have gone offstage and asked not for a stick but a lawyer) but Hairy admires her very much. Hairy doubts he’d show the same professionalism although a few fifty pound notes slipped into his sporran would probably help.

DiDonato is excellent. Hairy isn’t sure (now there’s a phrase Hairy doesn’t write often) whether she’ll use a wheelchair or crutches, probably crutches, but both props have been brilliantly integrated into her performance. Her singing is also very fine. She hits the high notes and the low notes with no trouble at all as far as Hairy can tell and even adds a few extra high notes. (Incidentally Hairy must refute the notion that the best way to help a tenor to sing high notes is to pinch his bottom at the crucial moment. This may be the surest way but the reaction of any fine red-blooded Scottish tenor so such an indignity is likely to leave the perpetrator in worse shape than DiDonato.) DiDonato gives a very feisty performance, Hairy can just imagine her chasing Bartolo about in her wheelchair.

The role of Count Almaviva is shared between two singers – Juan Diego Florez and Colin Lee. Florez is one of those singers everyone thinks is wonderful and Hairy thinks they do actually have a point. Florez even sings the aria that’s usually left out. Hairy McMungo does have this aria in his repertoire but he charges extra, he’s not sure if the other tenors so the same but it’s not often performed. Florez sings all the Count’s arias with ease and Hairy McMungo is jealous. Hairy McMungo would pay to be able to… wait, no he wouldn’t.

Colin Lee also sings the role well and has really matured vocally since Hairy saw him sing the role for the ENO. Hairy McMungo predicts a very strong performance, perhaps with a few surprises. Pietro Spagnoli is an amusing Figaro but like nearly every non-Scottish Figaro Hairy’s ever seen he doesn’t quite make himself into the star of the show, Rosina is the star.

Bartolo and Don Basilio are played by two great comedians, Alessandro Corbelli and Ferruccio Furlanetto. You won’t get any better than this south of the Border. Jennifer Rhys-Davies is a lot of fun as Berta, she’s Welsh but Hairy won’t hold it against her. After Antonio Pappano’s exciting performance of the overture (Hairy is sure he’s really Scottish, there’s no other explanation) Young Artist Changham Lim (Fiorello) gives the opera a strong opening.

All performances are almost sold out, the only seats on sale have ridiculous prices but there are always day seats.

HAIRY McMUNGO