The Marriage of Figaro review – zippy Mozart for the #metoo era with gender swap

Royal Opera House, London
This revival of David McVicar’s wonderful 2006 production sees an uneven cast and John Eliot Gardiner’s conducting sometimes too overbearing

A good performance of Le Nozze di Figaro always has more going for it than most other operatic experiences. The latest Covent Garden revival of David McVicar’s 2006 production is like that. It’s Figaro, so it’s wonderful. But that doesn’t mean it is without problems.

McVicar’s staging, updated to the 1820s, is one example. The indoor scenes are taut and full of social insights. The servants are rarely out of sight or mind. And this is very much a reading for the #MeToo era. But there is a dramatic slackness in the always difficult nocturnal final act, which means the opera loses its way until Mozart comes to the rescue in the transcendent final scene.