Gioachino
Rossini: La Cenerentola, Met Encore,
Phoenix Picturehouse, Oxford, 13 May 2014
The last of the season’s operas transmitted live from the Met was the most eagerly anticipated: the opportunity to hear two singers at the peak of their careers, Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez in Rossini’s comic opera La Cenerentola based on the Cinderella fairy tale. As with all such events there is a danger of disappointment, not, I hasten to say, in the casting and singing which were superb but in a production totally unworthy of the composer and the performers. This dates from 1997 and was the Met debut of Producer Cesare Lievi and set and costume Designer Maurizio Balò. On that occasion Angelina (Cinderella) and Ramiro (the Prince) were played by Cecilia Bartoli and Ramòn Vargas. In the last revival in 2009 Angelina was played by Elīna Garanča, DiDonato’s only rival for today’s mezzo prima donna assoluta, We are lucky in this Country to have had two memorable Glyndebourne productions, in 1983 and more recently Peter Hall’s 2005 production, seen on tour in Oxford with Christine Rice’s debut as Angelina in a stupendous performance both vocally and dramatically. In both, the staging matched the performance, contributing to the whole.
The Met’s production, we were forewarned, was a surrealist interpretation. Why, for heaven’s sake? My only conclusion was that it was a penny-pinching exercise, possibly to compensate for unnecessary extravagance on other new productions or an attempt to disguise the lack of ideas. The curtain rose on a nearly bare box-like set the main feature being a three-legged sofa over-used as the sole source of humour in the staging. The surrealism was limited to some spooky lighting, some business with clocks in the ball scene and a male chorus identically dressed as Magritte characters with bowler hats. Musically, too, the opera got off to a bad start with some inexcusable sloppy wind playing at the beginning of the overture and the failure of the conductor Fabio Luisi to establish a true Rossinian beat and spirit. With this below zero level of support it took a little time for the singers to rise and impose their personalities on their characters. Thus DiDonato took a little time to transform herself from a performing Diva to inhabiting the skin of the skivvy with dreams, Angelina. Likewise Flòrez did not immediately remind us that he does not need to be able to act to create a character.
Now the good news! Once they were able to take over, the whole cast gave performances which were vocally superb and their interaction and comic timing were perfection. We first met the sisters Clorinda and Tisbe played by Rachelle Durkin and Patricia Risley, their pretentious designs and rivalry raising many laughs. Alidoro, tutor in disguise, later the engineer of Angelina’s arrival at the Ball, was played by Luca Pisaroni but the best comic timing was that of Alessandro Corbelli as Don Magnifico, though his acting in the drinking scene was inhibited by the weak direction. The valet Dandini disguised as the Prince is dressed as a Rainier of Monaco look-alike, implying an analogy with Grace Kelly for the transformed Angelina (dangerous ground in the light of Nicole Kidman’s impersonation at this year’s Cannes Festival).
Musically and dramatically, the opera gets better and better as the finale approaches, particularly the timing in the sextets, but the concluding aria Non piu mesta receives from DiDonato the performance of a lifetime, surely establishing her as the best.
This is a staging of which the Metropolitan Opera should be thoroughly ashamed, transformed by the casting of exceptional singer-actors, giving their best. The three Angelinas mentioned can be compared on YouTube. Bartoli gives a mannered performance, calling attention to herself; Garanča has a beautiful voice and the technique but she does not have the reserves of power to give the impression of complete security. DiDonato was throughout in complete control, continuing to act her role through the most fiendish coloratura passages. For me, in this role Christine Rice remains a strong contender.
16 May 2014
The last of the season’s operas transmitted live from the Met was the most eagerly anticipated: the opportunity to hear two singers at the peak of their careers, Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez in Rossini’s comic opera La Cenerentola based on the Cinderella fairy tale. As with all such events there is a danger of disappointment, not, I hasten to say, in the casting and singing which were superb but in a production totally unworthy of the composer and the performers. This dates from 1997 and was the Met debut of Producer Cesare Lievi and set and costume Designer Maurizio Balò. On that occasion Angelina (Cinderella) and Ramiro (the Prince) were played by Cecilia Bartoli and Ramòn Vargas. In the last revival in 2009 Angelina was played by Elīna Garanča, DiDonato’s only rival for today’s mezzo prima donna assoluta, We are lucky in this Country to have had two memorable Glyndebourne productions, in 1983 and more recently Peter Hall’s 2005 production, seen on tour in Oxford with Christine Rice’s debut as Angelina in a stupendous performance both vocally and dramatically. In both, the staging matched the performance, contributing to the whole.
The Met’s production, we were forewarned, was a surrealist interpretation. Why, for heaven’s sake? My only conclusion was that it was a penny-pinching exercise, possibly to compensate for unnecessary extravagance on other new productions or an attempt to disguise the lack of ideas. The curtain rose on a nearly bare box-like set the main feature being a three-legged sofa over-used as the sole source of humour in the staging. The surrealism was limited to some spooky lighting, some business with clocks in the ball scene and a male chorus identically dressed as Magritte characters with bowler hats. Musically, too, the opera got off to a bad start with some inexcusable sloppy wind playing at the beginning of the overture and the failure of the conductor Fabio Luisi to establish a true Rossinian beat and spirit. With this below zero level of support it took a little time for the singers to rise and impose their personalities on their characters. Thus DiDonato took a little time to transform herself from a performing Diva to inhabiting the skin of the skivvy with dreams, Angelina. Likewise Flòrez did not immediately remind us that he does not need to be able to act to create a character.
Now the good news! Once they were able to take over, the whole cast gave performances which were vocally superb and their interaction and comic timing were perfection. We first met the sisters Clorinda and Tisbe played by Rachelle Durkin and Patricia Risley, their pretentious designs and rivalry raising many laughs. Alidoro, tutor in disguise, later the engineer of Angelina’s arrival at the Ball, was played by Luca Pisaroni but the best comic timing was that of Alessandro Corbelli as Don Magnifico, though his acting in the drinking scene was inhibited by the weak direction. The valet Dandini disguised as the Prince is dressed as a Rainier of Monaco look-alike, implying an analogy with Grace Kelly for the transformed Angelina (dangerous ground in the light of Nicole Kidman’s impersonation at this year’s Cannes Festival).
Musically and dramatically, the opera gets better and better as the finale approaches, particularly the timing in the sextets, but the concluding aria Non piu mesta receives from DiDonato the performance of a lifetime, surely establishing her as the best.
This is a staging of which the Metropolitan Opera should be thoroughly ashamed, transformed by the casting of exceptional singer-actors, giving their best. The three Angelinas mentioned can be compared on YouTube. Bartoli gives a mannered performance, calling attention to herself; Garanča has a beautiful voice and the technique but she does not have the reserves of power to give the impression of complete security. DiDonato was throughout in complete control, continuing to act her role through the most fiendish coloratura passages. For me, in this role Christine Rice remains a strong contender.
16 May 2014