Ms. Carolo's staging was fluid and well-choreographed, but her concern to keep the show moving weakened the end of several arias and seriously upstaged Joshua Brown (Guglielmo) in the middle of his second-act aria, "Donne mie." Sending Mr. Brown into the audience was a good use of the small space; having maids cross center stage to change the set at the same time was a bad idea and should be reconsidered.

As Fiordiligi, the center of non-farcical feeling in the show, Lanier McNab sang with her usual beauty of tone and command of line. The extreme low-notes of the role — a strength of the singer for whom Mozart wrote the role — were uncomfortable for Ms. McNab, though she managed them gamely. She is not a natural comic, but she conveyed the truth of Fiordiligi's conflict, and was particularly grand in her solo scene, "Come tutto congiuro."

Sonia Gariaeff's Dorabella was also excellently and securely sung. Her interpretation was more single-mindedly comic than I have seen before. This Dorabella's obvious willingness to flirt from the beginning made an effective contrast with her sister, but also made her performance repetitive and less nuanced. Perhaps she could have accomplished the same effect with a little less face-pulling and stage business.

Jimmy Kansau had difficulty with his passaggio register, but in general possesses lovely, open tone and resonance. He showed good comic timing, though with a tendency towards hamming, and was properly ardent in wooing Fiordiligi. "Un aura amorosa" was a little short-breathed in its phrasing.

Joshua Brown had a natural way with Mozart's lines and was particularly fluent in recitative. His phrasing in his solos was deft and he was a strong ensemble partner. As an actor, he was considerably persuasive. His alarm at succeeding in wooing Dorabella, and subsequent abashed smile at having to tell his friend, were charming. I would only ask for more gradation in his reactions to seeing Fiordiligi's slow fall: his struggle with his feelings can mirror hers.

Andrew Cox was an unusually gracious Don Alfonso, his winning smile disarming the usual tendency to dislike the character. His singing was similarly unaffected, produced with ease and uniformity in all the registers, and with a fine legato in the "Soave sia il vento" trio that matched the more experienced women. To be a really effective "philosopher," he needs more edgy emphasis on some phrases, particularly in the opening scene, when his comments goad the soldiers into making their wager, and in his authoritative pronouncement, "Tutti accusan le donne."

Elena Newkirk played Despina with spirit and a good deal of modern mannerism. Her soprano is pure-toned, but with presence, and her nasal singing as the doctor in the Act One Finale was a comic highlight.

The choruses were cut but not much missed. Barnaby Palmer's music direction was solid, his tempos well-judged. Cary Koh made notable contributions on first violin, as did Doug Han at the harpsichord. The supertitles were messy again and proved a distraction most of the time.