Krzysztof Baczyk; Sabine Devieilhe; Andre Schuen; Adriana Gonzalez; Lea Desandre; Kristina Hammarstrom; Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor; Wiener Philharmoniker; Martin Kusej; Raphael Pichon - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro

Le nozze di Figaro is Lorenzo Da Ponte's and Mozart's first of their three jointly created operas about attempts at interpersonal relationships: a turbulent comedy with erotic entanglements, which was not a harmless comedy even in Mozart's day. Director Martin Kusej moves the drama of love and jealousy to a mafia-like urban milieu where conflicts are fought out with pistols. Young French conductor Raphael Pichon, original sound expert (Der Tagesspiegel) and for the first time on the podium of the Wiener Philharmoniker, leads a young ensemble of singers around clan boss Almaviva (vocally flawlessly brilliant: Andre Schuen, Hamburger Abendblatt). Kusej's staging is musical, Pichon's conducting theatrical; the two work together to a degree that is far more rare than it should be. Every detail has been carefully thought through, and the symbiosis is breathtaking. (Financial Times)