Gioachino Rossini (1792-18868) was but 24 years old when he wrote his world-famous opera The Barber of Seville. The following year he wrote Cinderella (Cenerentola), which was more popular than his Barber for many years.
After composing forty operas, he retired at age 46, never to write another opera.
The Cinderella (Cerenterola) (1817) by Rossini playing at Chicago’s Lyric Opera was conceived and directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (1932-1988), France’s answer to Franco Zeffirelli, stage director, costume and set designer all in one person, for the San Francisco Opera in 1969. His genius and mastery of text and music has allowed both the production and Rossini’s opera, to hold up very well. They seem as fresh as the day they premiered, thanks to the dutiful and imaginative revival director, Gregory A. Fortner, the studious and energetic conductor Yi-Chen Lin, and Lyric veteran Duane Schuler’s always magical lighting design.
But it is with the singing/actors that Rossini stands or falls. The Chricgo Tribune of March, 1875, commenting on one of the city’s first experiences of Rossini’s Cinderella, assembled by Chicago newcomer H.E. Mathews, at the West Side Swedenborgian Church near Union Park, remarked that
“A number of the persons in the cast possess voices of no ordinary quality.”
The same may be said of the cast assembled for the current Cinderella.
Definitely.
Emphatically.
Unquestionably.
Maestra Lin, at times, became so animated by the great and glorious sound emanating from the stage that it seemed she might leap up onto the stage to join them.
Cinderella is the best-known of all the fairy tales, and probably also the best-liked. It is quite an old story; when first written down in China during the ninth century A.D., it already had a history.
Twenty-five year old Rossini and his librettist Jacopo Ferreti completely eliminated the fairy tale elements from Charles Perault’s classic telling. Basically a rags-to-riches story, Cinderella tells about the agonies of sibling rivalry, of wishes coming true, of the humble being elevated, of true merit being recognized even when hidden under rags, of virtue rewarded and evil punished—a straightforward story. Angelina (Cinderella), played by the abundantly talented Russian soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, has been cruelly mistreated by her stepfather, Don Magnifico (Alessandro Corbelli), and her nasty stepsisters, Tisbe (Sophia Maekawa) and Clorinda (Teresa Castillo). Ms. Berzhansskaya excels whether with “Una voltaa c’era un re” or with her duet with her Prince “Un soave non so che”.
Like Ms. Berzhanskaya, tenor Jack Swanson makes his Lyric debut with star power and wows the audience with a glorious interpretation of “Si, ritrovarla io giure”
Mr. Corbelli appears regularly on the Lyric Opera stage and we thank God every time he does. He brings a unique comic intelligence and sense which would have had him a charter member of the Comedie Francais should he have been French.
Patter songs are a prominent feature of this opera. Patter requires an acute sense of comic timing in order for the singer to make the words intelligible, and requires virtuosity because the words are delivered at breakneck speed. Think of Gilbert Sullivan. With Rossini think of Gilbert and Sullivan, in Italian, on speed. These Lyric performers, from the leads to Michael Black’s well-trained chorus make the Savoyards blush.
The two step sisters, who seem to have been inspired by Mr. Corbelli; their comic acting is of an appropriate style and their singing is powerful and dynamic. Sophia Maekawa impressed all with her performance in Jenufa, and I have been following the career of Teresa Castillo since I encountered her talent with The Virginia Opera Company. Her debut at the Lyric Opera is well-earned and a joy to behold.
The family awaits the arrival of Prince Don Ramiro (Jack Swanson), who is seeking a bride. Ramiro arrives, disguised as his own valet, Dandini (Joshua Hopkins) is a stunning opera singer who knocks “Come un’ape ne’ giorni d’aprile” out of the park. Upon meeting Angelina, the real Prince immediately falls in love with her as the sisters and their father pander to Dandini, disguised as Prince Ramiro.
Ramiro’s tutor, the philosopher Alidoro (Nicholas Newton), has learned of Angelina’s goodness and arranges for her to attend the prince’s ball. At the ball, Angelina dazzles everybody with her beauty. Before departing, she gives Ramiro a pair of bracelets, a gift from Alidoro. (The fairy-godmother had been transformed into the pseudo-sage Alidoro, whose task it was to accompany the girl to the ball, and at the ball she does not lose the celebrated slipper, but a golden bracelet.)
The next day, aided by ‘magical’ help from Alidoro, Ramiro finds himself at Don Magnifico’s home. He recognizes Angelina from the ball, even though she is now dressed in rags. After matching the bracelets, he insists on marrying her. Angelina is now a Princess. After ascending the throne, she forgives the cruelty of her step-father and step-sisters.
Traditionally, Cinderella is portrayed as a touching, forgiving angel of goodness . (The subtitle of the opera is “Goodness Triumphant”) Rossini depicts Angelina as a free woman, independent and rebellious against the abuse being afflicted upon her: a full-blooded rebel standing up to the authority of Don Magnifico, the mean “ugly” sisters, as well as the buffoonery of Dandini. Rossini’s wrote “music in which the tragi-comic rhythm of the fairy tale is tellingly, at times, movingly pointed.”[i]
Jack Swanson as Ramiro reveals a tenor voice for the ages. His renditions of “Tutto e deserto amici” and “Si ritrovarla io giuro”
can be described as noting less than glorious.
For many years Cinderella was more popular than Rossini’s The Barber of Seville.
Alidoro reveals a supernatural purpose to his doings, which suggests the angel Gabriel in the biblical Annunciation of Mary
in Heaven’s mysterious depths, an omnipotent God sits on His high throne, Lord of the world; at His feet even thunder rumbles God knows everything. He sees everything, and He will not permit goodness to die in sorrow. Innocent young girl, He sees you among the cinders, and He sees your tears. Don’t be afraid; your pain has transformed into happiness.
As Angelina takes the throne, the chorus proclaims her a goddess. Perhaps Rossini’s opera Cinderella echoes the greatest rags-to-riches plot ever, that of the servant of God, Mary, the Jewish orphan daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth, working at cleaning the Jerusalem temple, only to be elevated to the Theotokos, the mother God, the Queen of the Universe..
[i] Richard Osborne, Rossini. Boston: Northeastern University Press,1986. p.36.
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