LA CENERENTOLA
Rossini’s fabulous crescendos and Ferretti’s witty onomatopoeic texts were further amplified in this version of the age-old tale with Disneyesque colour from designer Joan Guillén that would not have looked out of place in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory – courtiers in mustard and magentas, ‘ugly’ sisters in searing pinks and green, and a Rick Wakeman-like midnight blue cloak with silver stars adorning the splendid bass, Wojtek Gierlach, as Alidoro.
Director Joan Font has succeeded in allowing this brilliant cast to revel in the exuberance of Rossini’s score – there was jaw-droppingly good coloratura throughout – which was written in a seamless creative outburst lasting just three weeks in 1816.
Given the sheer fizz of Aoife Miskelly and Heather Lowe’s performances as sisters Clorinda and Tisbe, and the outstanding baritone of Giorgio Caoduro as Dandini, this production never lacked pace and held the eye and ear throughout a rousing three hours. Urged on by conductor Tomáš Hanus, the WNO orchestra was always a delight and some beautifully played call and response passages between strings and woodwind stood out. The ensemble singing was machine-gun sharp, coping as it had to with Ferretti’s wicked verbal challenges.
The libretto for La Cenerentola, which Ferretti completed in an astonishing 21 days, breaks from the more traditional tale featuring a fairy godmother and the magic that turns a pumpkin into a coach and shabby shoes into glass slippers. This time our heroine, Angelina, known as Cinderella (Tara Erraught), has a mean step-father, Don Magnifico, and will be reunited with her prince by means of a matched jewelled bangle. No footmen would be turning back into mice at midnight, but rodents there were aplenty throughout this performance, no less than seven humanoid rats scampered, preened and at times helpfully moved props about the stage.
Fabio Capitanucci perfectly projected the proud fool, the down-on-his-luck Baron, Don Magnifico, and acted every bit the casually cruel subjugating step-dad. His ‘Meie rampoli femminini’ rumbled impressively. His appearance later atop a barrel while carousing with the prince’s footmen was a stand-out moment.
Believing status and financial reward would surely come from one of his two blood daughters marrying the Prince, Don Ramiro (Matteo Macchioni), Don Magnifico’s ambition makes him easy prey for the shrewd royal and his valet Dandini, who have enormous fun at his expense as they reverse roles. Caoduro was a constant source of fun. His Dandini swaggered in delicious irony, relishing his role as the pretend prince while his voice lit up the evening with its rich tones, especially during his aria ‘Come un’ape ne’ giorni d’aprile’.
Erraught’s ‘Cinderella’ caught the thrust of the underlying moral well, projecting a straight-forward girl with her warm and tender phrasings suited to the role. There was a Jackie Onassis moment where she appeared to be wearing shades at the ball, but as fortune turns and ‘Cinders’ finally ascends the throne, she beseeches the prince to forgive her sheepish-looking dad and siblings before delivering her soulful ‘By the hearth no longer, no longer sighing…’ aria in a controlled but sparkling finale.
★★★★☆ Simon Bishop 27th October 2018
