Two centuries after its premiere and thirty years after its first outing in 1987, Jonathan Miller’s Tiepolo-inspired staging brilliantly intercuts the traditions of the Italian commedia dell’arte and the Whitehall farce to create a charming evening of musical and comedy enjoyment.
Rossini’s prequel to The Marriage of Figaro remains as tuneful, ironic and funny as ever. Set in an elegant comic-opera vision of 18th-century Seville, this thirteenth revival with returning (2015 production) director Peter Relton taking experienced control of this established production has the same warm comfortable seriousness its last outing, and serves up the laughs.