There are folks out there who never care to attend another Measure for Measure, who never care to watch another Modern Times, and who never care to hear another Le Nozze di Figaro because to them, comedy is obviously a lesser art form than tragedy. To them one can only say: "too bad!" because as this immensely musical and enormously humorous recording of Figaro led by René Jacobs proves, there are still wonderful things to be found in the work if one knows where to look. For Jacobs, where to look is not only in the music, ...
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There are folks out there who never care to attend another Measure for Measure, who never care to watch another Modern Times, and who never care to hear another Le Nozze di Figaro because to them, comedy is obviously a lesser art form than tragedy. To them one can only say: "too bad!" because as this immensely musical and enormously humorous recording of Figaro led by René Jacobs proves, there are still wonderful things to be found in the work if one knows where to look. For Jacobs, where to look is not only in the music, not only in the humor, but deep into the humanity of the work. Jacobs and his terrific cast perform Figaro not as a comedy of manners but rather as a comedy of people, people with strengths and weaknesses, with loves and hates, with hearts and minds and souls and, especially, with bodies.Simon Keenlyside's Count is not just a nobleman looking to have his way with his servant's wife; he is a man who knows what he's doing but can't see any reason to stop himself. Véronique Gens'...
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