| Top notch musical achievements |
Welsh National Opera |
| Welsh National Opera- La Cenerentola (Cinderella) , Wales Millennium Centre , September 30, 2007 |
Top quality music and singing, particularly from the men of the WNO’s renowned chorus, colourful and fabulous costumes and some enchanting dancing mice, they’re called rats in the programme but they were far too much fun to be referred to as nasty rodents, were some of the delights of this new production. It’s a close call as to which made the bigger impact on the audience, Albert Faura’s splendid costumes and wigs or the top notch musical achievements of Robert Poulton as Don Magnifico, the father of the ill matched sisters and Rossini specialist Marianna Pizzolato.This is comic opera to relax and enjoy, the audiences were clearly lapping it up, applauding every aria. Poulton’s fully rounded bass produced a near perfect comic performance, equally matched by Roberto de Candia’s Dandini, though in both, some of the spontaneity did weaken a little towards the end. The ‘ugly’ sisters Joanne Boag and Julianne Young were vocally on form and made engagingly horrid fun. There is no doubting the commanding vocal ability of Pizzolato in the leading role but its very strength made it very difficult for her to convince us of her vulnerability in the early scenes. It crossed my mind that maybe this should always be a soprano role but this is dangerous territory. A couple of years ago the renowned American Rossini scholar Philip Gosset lost his position in the Rossini Festival when he questioned a decision on these very lines, taken by festival artistic director Bruno Cagli. In the presentation of this production in Houston the part was played by American soprano Joyce DiDonat. But as the story progressed with her coquettish smile, her innocent manner and captivating touch of coloratura she won our hearts. Colin Lee, as the lucky prince, was a gentle romantic tenor and Andrew Foster-William sings with subtle elegance but in the double role of the visiting beggar and as the prince’s tutor (a substitute fairy godmother) maybe a touch of animation would have brought us a livelier and more noticeable performance and both of them in their subservient roles looked for too smart. The closing act 1 sextet was a typical Rossini challenge that the singers rose to magnificently. Despite the overall appeal of the production in no way did it gel as a first class artistic experience. With heir long-nosed masks and whiskers, the six charming rats were director Joan Guillén’s most innovative and satisfying contribution to the production. With his pantomimic understanding of exotic and colourful shapes against a neutral background he pays tribute to one of his mentors, the great Jaques Lecoq. Whilst the setting’s plainness does nicely set off the shapes and colours of the performers it does nothing to enlighten the mood or story of the opera. There is one very amusing sequence where we saw the prince’s coach in miniature silhouette making its way to the Magnifico household for him to claim his bride, but then the rats bring it on to the stage and leave it lying on its side for the remainder of the evening. It is this overall lack of attention to fine detail that undermines the true quality of this production. A reflective screen is lowered to the centre of the stage at one point, its sections rotating to become a full sized version of the prince’s coach. It was great to see conductor, Carlo Rizzi returning in such fine form but not reflected from the middle of the stage picture. Had the overall musicality of the piece been exceptional these niggling details may not have been noticed but we were watching a major international Opera company. The influence of the Church of Rome in 1817 was so strong that Rossini felt obliged to remove all supernatural and magical reference from his version of the ancient tale. Even glass slippers were considered to be decadent; here they are substituted by a pair of sparkling bracelets. There is little magic in this production but much to catch the eye and allow the audience to leave the theatre with a broad smile on their lips. The production repeats at the WMC 3 7 and 12 October. |
Reviewed by: Michael Kelligan |
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