By Cal
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1rBwnDN7m8
Available until: Monday 4th
January 12pm
La Cenerentola is Glyndebourne’s free Christmas offering on
youtube and as it shares its story with one of the most famous pantomimes (Cinderella),
I’m not sure there’s a better choice.
When I first started listening to
opera (mainly because I couldn’t stuff my fingers far enough into my ears to
block it out), I found the unfamiliar music and the foreign languages
confusing. But once I did finally decide it actually didn’t sound that bad
(especially not when my very talented sisters sang it) and decided to give it a
proper go, it definitely helped to find out the story beforehand.
In the case of La Cenerentola, of course, there is no need to look anything up beforehand – most people know the story in one form or another. The opera is very like the pantomimes, with Ramiro (the Prince) and Dandini swapping identities. She also has two Ugly Sisters and there are a few comedy roles, including her stepfather, who is given the inaccurate name of Don Magnifico. There is no Fairy Godmother (other than Ramiro’s old tutor), which I actually see as a positive – I think human beings are beautiful animals and we don’t need magic to make us look like princes and princesses.
There are a few different ways of
presenting La Cenerentola. Some directors choose to put the focus on the
romance and don’t worry so much about the comedy. Some directors focus a lot
more on the comedy, with the result that you can leave the theatre thinking
about Cenerentola’s family rather than Cenerentola herself.
Peter Hall’s production appears to
take another approach (though my mum saw the same production on tour a few
months after this was filmed and found it very different in character so a lot
probably depends on the performers). Rossini is well-known for his intelligent,
confident, sneaky heroines, particularly Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia.
This production seems to present Cenerentola as a similar sort of character:
she’s in an undesirable home situation and she is ready to take her opportunity
as soon as it’s offered.
That is not to say Cenerentola is a
gold-digger. This production is set in a different time. A young woman couldn’t
simply go out and get a job, at least not without a recommendation from family
or friends… and it’s fair to say that would be a slight issue for Cenerentola.
And contrary to what Shakespeare would have us believe, it was probably very
unusual for a woman to put on a pair of trousers and be instantly accepted as a
man. Marriage is Cenerentola’s most realistic escape option – and I like to
think that she wouldn’t have thrown herself at any idiot. She seems more than
happy with Ramiro when she thought he was the valet.
Hildegard Bechtler’s set has a
wonderful staircase, but although the palace is beautiful and refined, it is
surprisingly minimalist. But her designs are used to very amusing effect in the
storm scene.
Ruxandra Donose is the knowing and
very intelligent Cenerentola, her voice clear and flexible and she seems not
the least bit troubled by music which should probably be impossible to sing.
Maxim Mironov sings smoothly and hits the high notes powerfully as the ardent
Prince Ramiro. Luciano Di Pasquale seems more a typical opera buffoon than a
cruel stepfather with a very characterful performance as Don Magnifico.
The Ugly Sisters, Clorinda and Tisbe,
are not ugly, though costume designer Moritz Junge has not dressed them
particularly flatteringly. Raquela Sheeran and Lucia Cirillo produce some
brilliant physical acting (which we get to see in close-up) as the sisters. Simone
Alberghini characterises Dandini brilliantly with perfect comic timing and
apparently effortless singing. (No offence to Maxim Mironov, who can obviously
only perform what’s written, but I’d have married Dandini.)
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