Ever built a room from scratch in two minutes? Probably not, but that’s what the chorus, doubling as scene shifters, have to do in Longborough’s new Figaro. The work must be finished by the time conductor Gianluca Marcianò completes the overture, and Figaro arrives to measure up. On opening night, Marcianò had already been on stage to announce problems. Illness was sweeping through the men, with laryngitis preventing Martin Nelson (Doctor Bartolo) from singing his opening aria (expertly lip-synched by ensemble member Spiro Fernando), and Eric Reddet (Don Curzio) absent altogether. Kris Belligh (Count Almaviva), similarly afflicted, soldiered on without wing-side assistance.

Conductor Marcianò seemed to have rebalanced the performance so that those on full voice didn’t overpower those in difficulty. Nicholas Merryweather’s Terfel-sized Figaro came over as a gentle giant of a man, and Susanna (Martene Grimson) was similarly quiet to begin with – although she always said a lot with her face. Out of this adversity came something rather special: an intimate, chamber-sized Figaro, where you felt you were actually in the room with the characters and their intrigues.

Meanwhile, the Count turned his vocal problems to advantage: instead of exploding with rage, he became quietly, chillingly angry. Stephanie Corley’s Countess (pictured) expertly supplies the opera’s key ingredient of nostalgic longing. Even though she sounded insecure in her big Act III aria Dove sono, the emotion was never lacking. Confounding the more usual stereotype, pint-sized, Cherubino, Hélène Hébrard is tall and dignified – the more difficult to conceal while avidly eavesdropping on the Count. Director Jenny Miller deftly overcomes this problem, however, and adds many other comic touches – for instance, when the Count finally forces his way into his wife’s dressing room, he discovers not only Susanna, but also a whole shoal of other gawping maids.

This is an enormously enjoyable production: let’s hope Longborough gives it another run. Its star is conductor Gianluca Marcianò, who made the orchestral instruments sound as if they, too, were singing Mozart’s music. No wonder he’s been engaged for another two seasons.

There are further performances on July 10 and 11. Phone for returns: 01451 830292.