From Opera News:

A touch of summer fun was added to New York City with TEATRO GRATTACIELO’s production of Le nozze di Figaro in LA MAMA DOWNSTAIRS. The performance on July 25 was an absolute delight, with an excellent cast and a very good reduced orchestra, dynamically conducted by Abdiel Vázquez.

Nicola Ziccardi portrayed Count Almaviva as a wrathful, imposing man, full of suspicion and quick to anger. However, he also was very touching in ‘Contessa perdono’, his apology for his bad behaviour. As the Countess, Sarah Rose Johnson was the picture of the aggrieved but unbowed spouse. Her rendition of ‘Dove sono’ was first rate, growing in intensity as it developed. Bry Toll gave a strong depiction of Susanna. Jongwon Choi was a fine, playful Figaro… As Cherubino, Eugenia Forteza practically stole the show. Her comic timing was picture perfect, and her charming performance of ‘Voi che sapete’ was impeccable. The supporting cast also was uniformly good.

The theatre is a small, acoustically bright, low-ceilinged space that presented its own challenges. Vazquez did a great job of maintaining balance between the orchestra and the singers. A special plaudit goes to Francisco Miranda for his skilled accompaniment in the recitative passages. Stefanos Koroneos directed with an appropriately light, fun-loving touch… Small glitches aside, this was a well-performed and enjoyable revisiting of Mozart’s opera.

– Arlo McKinnon