The Barber of Seville, Opera Holland Park review ★★★★★

Rain pattered down on the roof of Opera Holland Park on the first night of a new production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville, but inside there was a sun-soaked Spanish villa and a hilarious cast of Agatha Christie-type Brits abroad.

The lecherous guardian of our heroine, Rosina, is Doctor Bartolo – a gouty, sunburnt academic in breeches. He sporadically stutters a broken, anglicised Italian to display his classically British fits-and-starts Spanish. A portrait of Queen Victoria hangs on the wall. Designer Neil Irish’s creative vision is a delight – but elsewhere, Rossini’s fizzy comedy struggles to take off.

A mainstay of the repertoire and the prequel to Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, The Barber of Seville follows barber Figaro as he attempts to draw unwillingly cloistered Rosina out of Bartolo’s clutches and into the arms of Count Almaviva, who takes on various disguises to gain entrance to Bartolo’s house and carry out his romantic campaign.

Elgan Llŷr Thomas as Almaviva. Photo: Ali Wright

Beyond the design, it is conductor (and 2023 OHP Young Artist alumna) Charlotte Corderoy who really sparkles. She is unerringly animated and energetic, drawing a characterful performance from the City of London Sinfonia (marking 20 years with OHP this year). Popping out the pit for two sporting participations in the action, she is relaxed, effervescent, and totally assured – exactly what’s needed for this fiddly, caffeinated opera.

Heather Lowe's Rosina impresses too, combining precise coloratura with a seriously impressive gelatinous malleability to her facial expressions. Her creativity is extensive – with a behind-the-back eye roll here, an exasperated sigh there, she uses every available moment for character-building.

The open-air parkland setting reminds me of the green, forest space in Shakespearean comedies, As You Like It and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In those plays, the forest is the licensed space, where things run riot, and anything can happen. Figaro’s puckish mischief should flourish here – wild, heady and delirious. But when one can hear dogs barking or children playing in the park beyond because the auditorium is so silent, one feels something has gone slightly awry.

Heather Lowe (Rosina) and Elgin Llŷr Thomas (a disguised Almaviva). Photo: Ali Wright

The music class scene that opens Act Two offers a glimpse of what this production could be. Elgan Llŷr Thomas as Count Almaviva excels in disguise as music teacher Don Alonso – a nasally, affected, Mr Collins type, who plays the piano, feet aloft, like a febrile, humping rabbit. This audience whooped at this genuinely hilarious scene. But other parts just… sag.

There were a few first-night titters here and there, fond in tone, as when Figaro (Paul Grant) first enters. And some gags got a bigger reaction, but for what can be a rip-roaring vaudeville of a show, the audience’s subdued response was worrying. Figaro should make more of a gleeful, cheeky mark. The Act Two shaving cream scene can be a classic custard-pie comedy extravaganza – but there was only one tiny dollop of foam on stage. This cast has it in them – they just need to let loose.

Paul Grant as Figaro, at Opera Holland Park. Photo: Ali Wright

Cecilia Stinton’s production is an enjoyable night out: a feast for the eyes that showcases some stand-out performers. But I'm not sure this Barber is a cut above the rest.

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The Barber of Seville is sung in Italian with English surtitles. Further performances are on 6, 8, 11, 13, 14, 16, 19 and 21 June