thank you, COC

There is nothing in the world like Mozart to revive the spirit.

In my youth, I was a piano-playing hellraiser, scoffing at Wolfgang, preferring Ludwig van.

Maybe I was in my Lucy Honeychurch phase.

Much like the precocious heroine of A Room with a View, I had a passion for Beethoven, and impatience for much else. It took me a while to get into Mozart, who, at the time, I considered fluffy, tune-sy, and cotton-candy sweet.

Perhaps time is the great transformer of taste. After all, back then I didn't like anchovies or olives either.

Now, I have come to adore -and I mean seriously adore -the music of Mozart. There is something so wise, deft and sensitive about his work.

The COC does a lovely job of capturing this magic with their current production of The Marriage of Figaro.

Like any opera, the plot is silly and there is much running to and fro, hiding, disguises, scheming and household mayhem.

Count Almaviva lusts after Susanna, his man-servant Figaro's bride-to-be; the older Marcellina lusts after Figaro, Figaro lusts after Susanna, who he cannot get a moment's peace with, and Cherubino lusts after pretty much anything with boobs and two legs. The Countess quietly falls apart at the loss of her husband's love too.

In between are lots of stock characters (of the poop-disturbing variety), but I have to say, it was nice to see that none of them were thrown away, vocally or otherwise, in this witty and cute production.

Director Guillaume Bernardi has his leads in dreamy sepia-toned outfits, while the schemers -generally older charcters -are in bold purples and reds. The set is simply designed, but with touches of the East, a nod to the fascination Turkey and the Orient held over the Viennese of Mozart's day -and who knows, perhaps our own too.

But if this production is about anything, it's trust -specifically between the genders. How do we create it? How do we foster it? And, once broken, can it be repaired?

The Marriage of Figaro presents these questions wrapped up in a gauzy bejewelled bubble, and always, always that gorgeous music weaving its way through everything.

The singing is, for the most part, marvellous. I wish I could've seen Isabel Bayrakdarian's Susanna; she has a beautiful colaratura-style soprana that would suit the role to a tee.

However, she is sharing the role with Ying Huang, a soprano making her COC debut. Maybe it's because of the midweek, or the rain, or too much turkey over the weekend, but Huang's voice was weak beside her castmates' considerable belts.

While she has a lovely sweet tone, Huang simply isn't utilizing the breath control that is needed for the part. There are a lot of words, a lot of notes, and considerable speed is required in balancing the two. At times I was sure I heard Huang very-nearly run out of air; at others, I wanted more vibrato, more power, more resonant chest sound, not merely a shallow heady one. I hope she grows into the role, because she is a cute, fiery presence whose spunk and verve are well-suited to the role of the headstrong maid.

As the Countess, Jessica Muirhead captures the beautifully sad poetry of a woman who is lost in a passionless sea of a marriage. Her introductory aria is heartbreaking, and her scenes with Cherubino are fun. The look on her face as the first half closes says everything. Here's that most auspicious of pairings in the operatic world: a good singer and actor.

Typing of which, Sandra Piques Eddy, as the youthful lustmuffin Cherubino, is equally magnificent. Her mezzo is a resonant, rich sound that is capable of both power and delicacy, just at the right moments. Her tone, as well as good body language, lend believability to her male part, even as she manages a bit of menace in her harassment of the countess.

Supporting the leads are Donato DiStefano as Bartolo (a rich, caramel-like bass), Megan Latham as Marcelline (a strong actor and singer -I'd love to see her in Cosi Fan Tutte ) and Jonathan Green as Basilio (a superb bit of singing and comic timing).

Overseeing all of this is, of course, our Figaro, played with incredible physicality and vocal power by Robert Gleadow. Again, delicate and strong when required, he easily conveys to us the awesome beauty, power and wisdom of Mozart's every note. There are no throwaway phrasings or tossed-aside arpeggios here. This is a strong performance, from start to finish.

Conductor Julia Jones leads a COC orchestra who is responsive to every small change in direction and tone.

The final tentet onstage had me melting; listening to it was truly a spiritual experience. It is simply one of the loveliest pieces ever written, and, if you've not been to the opera, the definite bon-bon worth waiting for. Trust is restored, love is declared the winner, and all is right in the world, if we so choose it. So the music, not merely the words, tell us, if we listen closely.

As I closed my eyes and absorbed the beauty of the aria, I recalled a line from Amadeus.

Several people talking in a play is just noise - but in an opera?

It's music. It's more, too.

It's heaven.

The Canadian Opera Company's production of The Marriage of Figaro runs at The Four Seasons Centre to November 2.
For more information, go to www.coc.ca