David McVicar’s wonderful production of Nozze di Figaro opened for its fifth revival at the Royal Opera House last night (here’s Tim Ashley’s review), prompting my esteemed colleague at the Times to confess on Twitter that the intricacies of the plot still elude him.
His comment provoked much discussion, with some suggestions that he was a fool and it was perfectly simple, but I’m with Neil, @SecondNorn and @corrinacellist.
It’s perhaps my favourite opera, with heart-stoppingly glorious music and laugh-out-loud moments in a good production, but I too remain a little hazy as to quite who sends a letter to who, and why, who’s being played and who’s playing who, where and in what clothing, and what pin is or isn’t lost or found.
Prize (*) to the person who can come up with the best flowchart, as suggested above.
(*) by which I mean the quiet satisfaction of your extreme cleverness being immortalised in digital print.
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