La Cenerentola (10th October 2004, OZ)
I don’t know how old exactly this production of Cenerentola from OZ is. It’s probably created back in those days when Bartoli was still singing Rosina and Angiolina, because I have seen Bartoli in this production before. So it’s been around for quite a while. Comparing to Lievi’s recent works, Vespri from last season (rather provincial, to be frank) and Stiffelio from last month (this one is quite alright), his creation of Cenerentola is a great fun to watch. It’s a bit silly at times, like the spaghetti scene where basically everyone just sits at the table and tries to eat spaghetti (end of Act 1), but isn’t that opera buffa is supposed to be, great fun? Although Lievi forwarded the time to late 19th century, he kept some of the fairy tale characteristics of the story. The appearance of Alidoro in a white suite with a pair of cute golden wings was exquisite. And the display of Don Manifico’s dream in Act 1 (a donkey flying over a church) was hilarious.
The cast, IMHO, was impeccable. Florez as Ramiro is every opera fan’s dream come true. Gorgeous voice, great singing and he acts on stage very well. (Not to mention he has a look of a fairy tale prince.) I was surprised by his petit physique somehow I had imagined him to be taller (judging from the CD covers I own). His voice is a lot bigger than I expected. My ears almost started to hurt when he sang fortissimo. OK, that might have something to do with that I was sitting in the second row in front of the orchestra, but it does take some volume to create that effect nevertheless.
I once read a review about Kasarova’s Angelina (at Covent Garden, IIRC) saying that her voice was too dark for a comic role like this. But as she has proved in Belle Hellene and Barbiere at OZ, she is just as brilliant in comic as well in dramatic roles. She successfully portraied an innocent and goodhearted girl. In her first “Una volta, c’era un re” (Act 1), she sang it with an earning for a love to come. The second time she sang this aria (or cavatina?) was half mind-absent. She was thinking more about her previous encounter with her love, rather than paying attention to what she was actually singing. It was truly an enchanting performance. And the chemistry between Kasarova and Florez was somewhat special. They are really an adorable couple on stage.
Carlos Chausson has sung a lot of basso buffo roles and he is very very good at them. He knows exactly how to deliver a punch line without making it sound tacky or over the top. Even when he’s not singing he can still make you laugh simply through his facial expressions and body language. His Don Manifico is among the finest I know. The other bass in this cast was Laszlo Polgar as Alidoro. This was a luxury cast for this role. Here again, Polgar demonstrated his singing and acting ability in a fatherly figure; wise, kindhearted and very charming. Sen Guo and Irene Friedli were two fantastic silly and vain stepsisters of Angiolina. They and Chausson together formed an incredibly comic trio.
The Rumanian conductor, Ion Marin, appearing at OZ for the first time, if I’m not mistaken, was a pleasant discovery. I like his vivid and energetic tempo very much. He created a very good balance and dialog between the orchestra and the singers. The singers were never rushed to finish their sentence. Even when singing presto, the singers seemed to be quite at ease. This Cenerentola is in fact one of the most enjoyable opera performances of the season I’ve so far. But there are still some interesting Cenerentola performances ahead, featuring Jennifer Larmore and an upcoming young tenor, Antonio Siragusa
..... o dear, I will never be able to save enough money for new outfits. Damn.
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