The Catskill Chronicle

Review by Barry Plaxen, Photos: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

LOCH SHELDRAKE, NY (May 12, 2014) – First performed in 1817, Rossini’s “La Cenerentola” has a libretto by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the fairy tale Cendrillon by Charles Perrault. Rossini composed “La Cenerentola,” when he was 25 years old, following the success of “The Barber of Seville” the year before. It was completed in a period of three weeks. Rossini saved some time by reusing an overture from a previous opera, “La Gazzetta,” and part of an aria from “The Barber of Seville,” and by enlisting a collaborator, Luca Agolini, who wrote the recitatives and three numbers.

The beautiful “Live from the Met in HD” production by Cesare Lievi, seen on May 10, 2014 at SUNY Sullivan in Loch Sheldrake, was designed by Maurizio Balò. Balò created sets and costumes meant to combine the elements of fairy tale and farce, with more than just a touch of commedia dell’arte. And that’s how it began, with the farcical “wicked” sisters, soprano Rachelle Durkin decked out on a couch with only three legs (so it could collapse at the director’s whim) and mezzo Patricia Risley, both in appropriately farcical and highly imaginative costumes.

Cinderella is with them, on the floor brushing their shoes. She begins to sing a song about a king who found his wife among common folk, and it is with this song that the magnificent mezzo Joyce DiDonato seems to have discovered her motivation for bringing out the drama in the libretto, a philosophical one about, in a word, “goodness.” Not “good” mind you, often considered a judgment that can cause conflict, but “goodness,” an attribute DiDonato shows later in the opera as an enlightened being.

There are changes from the traditional fairy tale in La Cenerentola because Rossini opted for having a non-magical resolution to the story due to obvious limitations in the special effects available in 1817. In this variation the wicked stepmother is replaced by a wicked stepfather sung by Alessandro Corbelli and the Fairy Godmother is replaced the Prince’s tutor (another advocate of “goodness”) sung by Luca Pisaroni. The Prince’s valet disguised as the Prince is sung by Pietro Spagnoli and the Prince disguised as his valet is sung by Juan Diego Flórez. The fact of their disguises fits into the “goodness” theme as the Prince and the valet search for a future princess – someone who will love the Prince for himself, not because of his worldly station. Lastly, at the end, Cinderella is identified not by her glass slipper but by her bracelet.

The opera is considered to have some of Rossini’s finest writing for ensembles. We heard delightful and intricate trios, quartets, quintets and septets sung by all of the above. And sing they did. Standout was our superstar hero Flórez whose high Cs were right on (though not the brilliant, ringing head tones as his can be) and baritone Spagnoli, a real find who added much depth, passion and even philosophical undertones to what is usually a ”surface” character.

In the acting department, I want to point out the older sister’s (Rachel Durkin) ability to somehow seem to be aware of how her farcical expressions and movements affected the audience, as opposed to the other farcical characters simply cavorting and making fun. Perhaps it was because her movements seemed more inspired and totally part of her being, not as “cliche” as the others’.

Conductor Fabio Luisi conducted the magnificent orchestra and the superb all-male chorus (this is the first opera I have ever seen without females in the chorus) for which I’d like to commend the make-up department for complementing their homogenous costumes with fantastic (in the sense of fantasy) and whimsical facial paint.

All the above accolades do not seem to express what I “got out of” the production on an emotional level. And in speaking with other audience members during intermission and after the performance, I know I was not alone in my reaction. From the moment DiDonato sees the Prince, she imbues a seriousness and depth into her character, which is NOT your teenage Cinderella wanting to meet her Prince Charming, but a mature young woman who, when it comes to love somehow “just knows,” just as she “just knows” what forgiveness and goodness can work (present tense of wrought).

Indicative of her exemplary acting and singing (and charisma) were my evident tears at their meeting, my involvement in the story itself from that point on as if I did not know what was going to happen, and my (shockingly) unexpected tears as she sang the closing virtuoso aria “Nacqui all’affanno … Non piu mesta" and exuded love, forgiveness and awareness, all the while exemplifying the meaning of “goodness.”

If the last two Met presentations of “Cosi Fan Tutte” and “La Boheme” were examples of great ensemble opera with their casts of equal ability, “Cenerentola’s” two superstars (and possibly a new star, Pietro Spagnoli) gave us that elusive magic, those thrilling moments, that ensemble opera can lack.

And as for DiDonato, she also showed us what glorious heights of the crafts of singing and acting human beings are capable of attaining. Super!