On January 15, the cool peeps @ Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam are bringing back the 2006 staging of Nozze di Figaro by Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito that made us seriously lol if not definitely rofl -- it's Mozart in a car dealership (Jossi and Sergio, the Viktor & Rolf of opera directors, also staged Don Giovanni among the beds of a furniture store and Cosi Fan Tutte in a 1960s youth hostel).
The usual suspects totally hated the concept but Opera Chic thinks that, in general, a man with a great sense of humor such as Amadé would have laughed, too. Not to mention -- but this is probably true for every opera composer who ever lived, except for Wagner -- he would have simply been astonished, and pleasantly surprised, that his work is still staged everywhere, still so loved, so successful, and so relevant to our 21st Century lives.
Oh, and if you visit Amsterdam next month (insert weed jokes here) you can also catch on the Nederlandse Opera's stage that big tall order of sexy, Luca Pisaroni, reprising his role as Figaro.