The Marriage of Figaro at the Metropolitan Opera

Ken Howard, Metropolitan Opera

Polyamory in Pre-War Thuringia

Titus Groan, or even Hermann Goering, could have starred in the Metropolitan Opera's production of "The Marriage of Figaro" on Wednesday night. None of the hours of preparation I had done for this long and complicated work was adequate for Sir Richard Eyre's pre-war Thuringia setting in what looked like Gormenghast's eerie castle, with gothic turrets throwing spooky shadows, and grim foreboding lurking behind every creaky door and gargoyled gable. Against all this the jolly music and silly adulterous antics were cast in an entirely different light, which I'm really only starting to understand now, almost two days later.